Adora Hicks came to Vanderbilt Athletics as director of career development in the Ingram Center for Student-Athlete Success in October 2024.

She had served as assistant director of student-athlete leadership and development at Louisville for nearly three years prior to her arrival in Nashville, where her responsibilities included assisting Cardinal student-athletes with career and leadership development as well as community engagement. Hicks also was directly involved with the school’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and the athletics internship program.

Hicks was coordinator of career and leadership development at Alabama for three years before joining the staff at Louisville, where she coordinated events and programs to support the professional growth and facilitated connections and experiences for student-athletes. While working in the school’s career center as a career consultant, she helped found and manage the Crimson Career Closet that served over 800 students in its first year of existence.

A 2007 graduate of Howard in Washington, D.C., with a bachelor’s degree in human development, Hicks added a master’s degree in educational psychology from the university two years later as well as a master’s degree in counselor education from George Mason in 2014. In 2018, she received her PhD in counselor education and supervision from Alabama.