Maya N.

Maya Niksic

5.0

(3)

Career Coach with a Gift for Unlocking Potential | Harvard PCC

Harvard Kennedy School Logo

Admissions Committee at Harvard Kennedy School

Goldman Sachs Logo

Worked at Goldman Sachs

Successful clients at

Not currently taking new clients

Maya’s Career Coaching Qualifications

Coaches professionally

Experience level: Executive

500+ people coached for Career Coaching

Maya has helped clients get into these companies:

People often tell me I have a gift for seeing them more clearly than they see themselves. That is the heart of my coaching: helping clients uncover the strengths and stories they didn’t know they carried, and guiding them toward opportunities they never thought possible. For the past six years, I’ve coached graduate students, executives, mid-career professionals, and military leaders through their biggest transitions. At Harvard Kennedy School, I designed and directed programs at the intersection of leadership development and career transformation. At Goldman Sachs, I saw firsthand how people thrive—or falter—under pressure, and I now use those insights to help clients chart resilient and purpose-driven careers. As a certified PCC coach with 1000+ hours of experience, I combine developmental coaching with practical strategies for resumes, interviews, networking, and pivots. Clients describe me as both strategic and soulful: someone who will challenge you with rigor, but also create a space where you can grow with confidence. To me, career coaching is not just about getting a job—it is about helping you step into the future version of yourself with clarity and courage.

Maya can help with:

AI Automation

AI Fundamentals

AI Outreach

AI-Powered Job Search

Career Planning

Cover Letters

Freelancing

General Exploration

Interview Prep

Job Search Strategies

Leadership

Networking Strategy

Personal Branding

Professional Networking

Resume Review

Salary Negotiation

Skill Building

Maya also coaches for Leadership Coaching, Master’s Programs, and Transitioning from the Military. View all.

About Maya

I have built my career at the intersection of high-stakes leadership, technology, and human growth, beginning at Goldman Sachs and continuing through my work at Harvard Kennedy School. At Goldman, I learned how leaders thrive in fast-moving, high-pressure environments shaped by technology and constant change. At Harvard, I have spent the past six years designing and directing programs that combine adaptive leadership, adult development, and civic impact, guiding graduate students, executives, and policymakers through moments of uncertainty and transformation. My story is about bridging worlds: the rigor of finance with the humanity of coaching, the theory of leadership with the lived complexity of practice, and the perspective of global experience with the intimacy of personal growth. As a certified PCC coach, I support leaders to move beyond solving immediate challenges toward reimagining themselves for the future. Clients often describe me as bringing both intellectual sharpness and soulful presence. I coach not just for performance but for transformation, so that you can thrive in complexity and lead with clarity, courage, and style.

Why do I coach?

I coach because I know what it means to stand at the edge of uncertainty and wonder if you will find your way through. I have lived through demanding environments on Wall Street, deep academic immersion at Harvard, and life transitions across continents. At each stage, the presence of wise mentors and the practice of self-reflection helped me move from merely surviving toward creating meaning and impact. Coaching matters to me because it is a space where people can pause, be seen fully, and discover strengths they did not know they had. I have witnessed leaders transform when they realize that the very challenges they fear can become the catalysts for their greatest growth. My work is about holding that space and guiding clients to step into their clarity and courage. Coaching is not just my profession; it is the way I honor the transformative power that shaped my own life.

Work Experience

Brainz Magazine Logo

Contributor

Brainz Magazine

February 2024 - Present

Executive Contributor

BetterUp Logo

Executive Coach

BetterUp

January 2023 - Present

Leadership Development Coaching

Harvard Kennedy School Logo

Director

Harvard Kennedy School

January 2023 - Present

Applied Field Learning Lab

Adaptive Leadership Atelier Logo

Founder + CEO

Adaptive Leadership Atelier

July 2022 - Present

Harvard Kennedy School Logo

Adaptive Leadership Coach

Harvard Kennedy School

September 2019 - Present

Harvard Kennedy School Logo

Assistant Director

Harvard Kennedy School

September 2018 - January 2023

Goldman Sachs Logo

Lead Specialist Associate

Goldman Sachs

July 2008 - November 2013

Education

Harvard Kennedy School Logo

Harvard Kennedy School

Master of Public Administration (MPA)

2016 - 2018

Admissions Committee Experience

Behavioral Insights, Adaptive Leadership & Adult Development Psychology

Creighton University Logo

Creighton University

Master of Investment Management and Financial Analysis (MIMFA), Finance

2014 - 2016

Activities and societies: Recipient of Full Graduate Assistantship Resident Director Creighton Upward Bound Program

University of Nebraska, Lincoln Logo

University of Nebraska, Lincoln

Bachelor's Degree , Chemical Engineering

2004 - 2008

3 Reviews

Overall Rating

5.0


Maya has helped clients get into these companies:

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Maya N.

Maya N.

5.0

 
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