By DENNIS JARRETT
Corey and Nichole Wilson don’t just talk about service — they’ve build a whole life around it. The kind of life where professional success and community advocacy aren’t competing priorities, but two lanes of the same road. And somehow, in the middle of major careers and major needs in the city, they’ve also protected the most important thing: their marriage and their family.
Corey, a homegrown Indianapolis leader, is senior vice president of Community Engagement for Pacers Sports & Entertainment. Nichole is vice president of Community Health for Indiana University Health. Their titles are impressive, but what stands out more is how naturally they speak about community as a shared responsibility — and a shared love story.
“We love each other, we love community, and we integrate that into our lives,” Nichole said. “And now it’s fully integrated because that’s what pays the bills.”
Corey nodded at that, because he’s lived that “community-first” thread since he was a kid on the northwest side of Indianapolis. He still remembers volunteering through his church’s Shoes for Children program — a holiday effort that grew from a small giveaway to distributing more than 3,000 pairs of shoes.
“To think people were lining up at two and three in the morning with their kids … was really important to me,” Corey said. “And quiet as it’s kept, I wasn’t too far from that line myself.”
Nichole’s roots are just as deep. She grew up around 34th and Martin Luther King Jr. Street, shaped by faith, family and women who made service non-negotiable.
“My mom and aunts and grandmother … always reinforced community, always reinforced family,” she said. “And expected me to give more beyond our family.”
Their lives crossed — like a lot of good Indianapolis stories — through people who cared enough to connect dots. A blind date. A “set up,” as they both called it, arranged by mutual friends. Four years later, they were married. Not long after, they did something that tells you everything about how they move: they earned their MBAs together at Purdue.
“that was maybe a year into our marriage,” Nichole said. “We did that together.”
Ask them what keeps them steady while the needs of the city keep growing, and you’ll hear two different styles that fit together like a lock and key.
“I do get frustrated at times,” Nichole admitted, describing nights spent thinking about urgent health gaps, like maternal and infant health needs that outpace available capacity. Those types of things … keep me up at night.”
Corey’s response comes from the other side of the emotional spectrum — calm, focused, forward.
“I have to not allow myself to be defeated or feeling overwhelmed,” he said. “Because if that’s the case, then less will get done.”
Nichole laughed when she described the difference.
“Corey … is more of the calm, ‘We’ll figure it out.’ I’m the one like, ‘We should be fired up … let’s knock over some tables.’”
That’s their secret: not balance — teamwork.
“I don’t believe in balance,” Nichole said. “I believe in integration … and harmony.”
So, when Corey’s schedule is packed with games and community events, Nichole shifts to be more present for their daughter, Nahla. When Nichole has initiatives that demand everything, Corey becomes the steady hand behind the scenes.
“We just need to be in harmony about that,” she said. “Because … it’s what needs to be done for the greater good.”
And Nahla is watching. She’s even joining them.
“It helps me understand more things about the community,” Nahla said. “I like it. Then I can actually help them.”
At the heart of their story is a shared mindset: show up consistently, do the work for real, and bring others along.
“We’re really big on … ‘lift as you climb,’” Nichole said, describing how they mentor young leaders without hesitation.
Corey echoed it immediately: “I try to make myself as accessible as possible … and say, ‘How can I help you … so that we can all be successful?’”
The Wilsons don’t chase applause. They chase outcomes. And in a city that needs both hope and hands, they’re modeling what it looks like to build a legacy — together.
This article was originally published in Indy Far East Magazine. For more news, visit indianapolisrecorder.com.
