from Brooklyn College in 1992,[4] and while an undergraduate she spent time studying at the London School of Economics as a Harry S. Truman Scholarship.

[2] She went on to earn a master's degree in public affairs and domestic politics from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University,[6] and an executive doctorate (Ed.D.)

[8] Following her time at the University of Oxford, Nieves moved to Washington, D.C. where she worked for the Corporation for National and Communication Services, a federal agency in Washington, D.C.[4] She then worked for The After School Corporation,[2] and from 2002 until 2004, she was the chief of staff in New York City's Department of Youth and Community Development office.

[10][1] In 2011, while she was a social entrepreneur-in-residence at the Blue Ridge Foundation,[11] Barack Obama appointed her to the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics,[12][9] where she served as a commissioner.

"[4] In 2008, the Robin Hood Foundation named her one of their '2008 Heroes', which included a $50,000 grant for her work with Year Up, a program supporting the education and employment of urban youth.