Nicole Horn
Take a peak at how she will lead the Department of Labor as Georgia’s next labor commissioner.
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Written by Sheri Panovka
Nothing is more important to Nicole Horn than ensuring all Georgians have equal job opportunities and an effective safety net when they need one. Horn speaks with authority; growing up with a father who worked seasonal jobs during the warm months, her family relied on unemployment benefits to get by during the rest of the year.
“My father was a union member, and my mom was a nurse. They were people who worked really hard,” Horn says. “He depended on unemployment every winter, because he would be laid off. We lived paycheck to paycheck, and there wasn’t a lot of wiggle room. So, when I think about people going four to six months without unemployment benefits — benefits they earned — I know it is not an easy task. And it’s not something we’re talking about enough.”
Horn knows what it’s like to count every penny from her days working an hourly job as a waitress in her teens and early 20s. The last 15 years also taught her how to run a business and balance budgets. As a business owner, she has watched employees start families and buy their first houses because of the jobs she could offer them.
“These experiences inform how I will lead the Department of Labor,” says Horn, who is running to be Georgia’s next labor commissioner.
An entrepreneur who built and ran a small business for 15 years before transitioning to an executive position in a large company, Horn appreciates the challenges faced by business owners.
“I’m uniquely qualified for the job as someone who owned and grew a business and brought sound strategy to that journey,” she said. “I worked with an eye at every turn on labor and jobs. I also have good knowledge of the higher education system and how it affects the job market.”
Nicole Horn with her son, daughter, and husband Jon.
Horn, who turned 46 in August, and her husband, Jon, both grew up in families that often struggled; both have held jobs since they were just teens and largely put themselves through Emory University. As they began growing their own company, which Jon had started as a database, website and technology firm in 1998, they knew they wanted to find a way to help others like them find their next career. Working with universities across the country to offer programs that led to jobs for adult students, their business that started with nothing grew to become a $3 million company — successful enough to be bought by a private equity firm in 2018. Horn stayed on with the company for three years, overseeing sales teams and product lines and partnering with universities to launch, market and recruit students for adult degree programs.
While she was running the business, Horn stayed active in the community, with leadership roles in their Virginia Highland neighborhood in Atlanta and the public elementary school their son and daughter attended. She became more active in politics and, at the start of 2017, formed Indivisible Georgia (5th District), a local branch of the political advocacy group formed to promote democracy after the 2016 election.
Get out the vote! Nicole waving yard signs at an intersection to encourage voting for the Georgia runoff elections in January 2021.
“I spent four years advocating for good progressive policies and pushing against the regressive and, in some cases, inhumane approaches Donald Trump took as president,” says Horn.
When they sold their company in 2018, Horn told her husband she wanted to run for office after their three-year contract ended with the company that bought it. Given her experience, the labor commissioner seat was the obvious choice.
Then came 2020 and one of the worst global crises in a generation.
In June 2021, Nicole speaks at a rally in front of a closed career center in Atlanta to bring awareness to the state’s withdrawal from extended pandemic unemployment benefits.
“When I saw the depth of the suffering many people were going through when they lost their jobs, a situation that was largely avoidable, I felt even more of a calling to refocus the Department of Labor to provide a better safety net and better resources for jobs and career growth,” she says. “We hear the job market is picking up, and we’re seeing help-wanted signs out there, but we aren’t seeing enough good jobs. We’re seeing jobs that don’t provide a living wage or benefits. Those jobs will always be there; we need to look at how the state of Georgia can provide better jobs that pay a living wage.”
Horn believes the Department of Labor is poorly run because of “really bad business decisions.” She has a vision that includes ways to fix and improve the existing unemployment system as well as to expand and grow job opportunities in the state.
“As we look at new and better jobs, having a deep understanding of trends is going to be critical. In my past role, I had to look at the job market at the time and assess how labor trends were going to affect jobs in the future.
Strengthening the safety net by fixing the current unemployment system is key to Georgia’s future,” Horn says. With that in mind, she plans to first get the department back up to being fully staffed. The Department of Labor also needs a technology upgrade. “The current system is ancient and needs to be replaced. Right now, people are waiting four to six months to receive their benefits. That’s unacceptable. That time lag has led to people losing their homes, their cars, their life savings. It’s had a dreadful and avoidable impact on the people who need it most.”
To help strengthen career prospects, Horn plans to implement state-run apprenticeship programs. Georgia is one of only a few states that don’t have such programs. In addition, she envisions partnering with unions, technical colleges and businesses to increase awareness of and participation in existing apprenticeship programs. To Nicole, an effective approach to such a program also will explore wrap-around support. “We need to look at transportation, childcare and tutoring. As an example, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) electrician program is fantastic, but in discussing the program, it came out that one of their greatest challenges is supporting participants as they work to master the mathematical requirements. Providing tutors is a minimal investment that will result in more graduates and yield strong returns for years to come.”
She also wants to bring a self-employment assistance program to the state to encourage entrepreneurship.
“If you lose your job and have an idea for a new business, you should be able to work with the Small Business Association to make it a reality. Considerable research suggests most jobs are home grown and do not come from big corporations. I want to help people create more small businesses. That will also help with underemployment, which is above average in Georgia. Too many people have jobs for which they’re overqualified. Statistics show it is even worse in Black and Brown communities.” In addition to focusing on underemployment, Horn plans to tackle systemic discrimination in Georgia’s job market.
Nicole plans to tackle systemic discrimination in the state’s job market.
“Black women in Georgia are paid 61 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. Inequality destabilizes our economy and hurts the middle class. I will work with our General Assembly to expand Georgia’s Fair Employment Practices Act so it covers all government agencies and private businesses. Equal work demands equal pay.”
If anyone can effect change in the department, it’s Horn.
“I see Nicole as a fighter who doesn't give up on what she believes in,” says Nancy Kim, who worked in marketing for the Horns and now works for EducationDynamics — the company that bought theirs. “She always made sure I was heard and connected me to the resources I needed to be successful, even if it challenged the status quo. That's why I know she's the right person to be our labor commissioner. When there's a problem and people are hurting, Nicole naturally takes the lead and does whatever it takes to make it right.”
Horn intends for the Department of Labor to be able to partner effectively across other state-run departments. For primary and secondary education, that might mean a pre-apprenticeship program. At the college level, it might mean a program within companies.
“With both young adults and adults, labor only works well when you have access to transportation and childcare,” Horn says. “We need partnerships to be inclusive of the greater working class. As people are graduating high school or college, or looking for their next career, the government can be a partner in helping them find and start a great career.”
Dekalb County Commissioner Steve Bradshaw has no doubt about Horn’s ability to lead Labor, and he fully endorses her. The presiding officer of the Board of Commissioners, Bradshaw is impressed with her intelligence and energy.
“I love her private sector experience and think she’ll bring the right sensibility to the job,” he says. “The labor commissioner is an important job, and we need someone responsive in that role. I think she will work hard and make the citizens proud — especially if we face another crisis like COVID.”
In a crisis or not, the most important role of government is to ensure the wellbeing of its citizens.
“Government should be here to strengthen community,” says Horn. “And good jobs create better communities.”
All photos in this article are made available with the courtesy of Nicole Horn for Labor Commissioner.
