Nick Bates is Associate Director of Boston University's Thurman Center for Common Ground. Howard Thurman, a mentor of Martin Luther King, believed that personal self-exploration and community building are achieved through dialogue and “creative shared experiences”. Nick helps others develop programs and strategies to reshape socialized perceptions of race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality while fostering an environment for healthy identity development. Nick has a Master's Degree in Higher Education from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.