George F. Nicholas

Pastor George F. Nicholas is a retired United Methodist pastor, community leader, and prominent social justice advocate who serves as the CEO of the Buffalo Center for Health Equity. Based in Buffalo, New York, he has spent decades working at the intersection of faith, public health, and systemic reform to eliminate deep-rooted racial and socioeconomic health disparities. His work frames healthcare access, education, housing quality, and employment as root economic drivers of health outcomes.

Through his extensive pastoral and community work, Pastor Nicholas focuses his advocacy on regional zip codes in East Buffalo, West Buffalo, and Cheektowaga-Sloan—areas heavily impacted by disproportionately high premature and maternal mortality rates. He founded and chairs the African American Health Equity Task Force, an initiative that successfully co-established the Erie County Department of Health Equity and the UB Community Health Equity Research Institute. He also actively leads community-wide coalitions, including the annual "Igniting Hope" conferences and local policy efforts like city initiatives to ban menthol tobacco to protect underserved populations.

Pastor Nicholas holds a Master of Divinity from the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, a Master’s degree in Social Sciences from the University at Buffalo, and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from The Ohio State University. Formerly the Senior Pastor at Lincoln Memorial United Methodist Church and a leader at Hope & Healing CLTL, he is an active member of the Concerned Clergy Coalition of Western New York. In recognition of his decades of service, he was honored with the prestigious 2022 Bernard J. Tyson Health Equity Award from the Alliance of Community Health Plans.