Leadership
Donnell Nichols
Founder and Executive Director, C4I Veteran Services Corp. Disabled U.S. Navy veteran. A life spent showing up for others when it matters most.
About Donnell
Showing Up When It Matters
Donnell Nichols is a disabled veteran of the United States Navy whose life has been defined by one commitment: showing up for others when it matters most.
For years he led teams of veterans through New York City streets searching for missing autistic children, including organizing and managing volunteer teams in the search for Avonte Oquendo, one of the largest searches in the city’s history. He has also partnered with community leaders on security initiatives in the wake of hate crimes.
For eight years he has served in disaster response in the Research Triangle, managing complex fires and floods, and has appeared many times on WRAL, CBS 17 and other local news outlets in the field as a representative of the American Red Cross. That work revealed the pattern behind C4I: in almost every emergency, technology fails early, and the people who know how to fix it are somewhere else.
C4I is his own initiative, a commitment to veterans and a promise he made to himself. He is also pursuing a degree in Homeland Security at Arizona State University, focused on the role of information technology in disaster response.
Contact Donnell
Donnell handles press and funder inquiries directly.
- Email: dn22@c4iveteranservices.org
- Cell (immediate inquiries): (202) 855-0703
- Office: (919) 443-5998
Background
- Disabled veteran, United States Navy
- Eight years of disaster response in the Triangle area, managing complex fires and floods
- Frequent local news appearances in the field at disasters
- Years leading veteran search teams in New York City for missing autistic children, including the search for Avonte Oquendo
- Homeland Security studies, Arizona State University
In the News
Coverage of Donnell’s Service
News coverage of Donnell’s disaster response work in the Triangle and his search and rescue work in New York City.
Disaster Response in the Triangle
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The Wake Weekly · March 26, 2026Nichols serves in Red Cross fire response as fire department liaisonA profile of his role connecting the Red Cross with local fire departments.
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ABC11 · March 12, 2026Morrisville community thanks first responders as residents recover from apartment fireQuoted as fire department liaison with the American Red Cross.
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WRAL · February 2026Massive fire rips through Morrisville apartment complex leaving six injuredInterviewed at the scene for the Red Cross response.
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ABC11 · May 19, 2025Huge fire destroys home in Garner’s Eagle Ridge communitySpeaking for the Red Cross on long-term support for the family.
Search and Rescue in New York City
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PIX11 · September 2015Search for Brooklyn teen Ryan Matthews continues 10 days after his disappearanceVolunteer search for a missing Brooklyn teenager.
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The Missing (NYCity News Service) · 2015Brian: A Young Man with AutismQuoted as a member of NYC REACT Search & Rescue helping the Gewirtz family organize searches.
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PIX11 · 2015Family of missing autistic man seek help from Avonte searchersThe volunteer team from the Avonte Oquendo search is asked to help another family.
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New York Amsterdam News · November 14, 2013Donnell Nichols: Dedicating life to emergency servicesA profile of his lifelong commitment to emergency services.
Links open the original news sites. Donnell’s American Red Cross service is separate from C4I, and C4I is not affiliated with the American Red Cross.
A Message from Our Founder
Why I Do This Work
Hello, my name is Donnell Nichols, and I am the founder and executive director of C4I Veteran Services Corp. I have spent my life in service to others, and I am grateful for the opportunity to help my fellow veterans, no matter what is going on in their lives.
I have fought through trials and tribulations, and there was a time when I wanted to give up. The amazing doctors at the VA hospital, a strong family support network, my service dog, Bennett, and my love of IT gave me a path forward. It wasn’t just one thing. It was a combination of things that lit a path for me in my darkest hour.
I hope the work we do at C4I Veteran Services starts a new journey for a veteran who is struggling, or for a veteran whose life is in order but who is still searching for direction. We strive to provide supportive services, and if there is something we don’t offer, we will walk with you to find what you need to keep moving forward.
Our Commitments
- Work with veterans to identify and address their needs.
- Team young people with veterans already working in IT, sparking an interest that can open new paths in underserved urban and rural communities.
- Identify real problems and create real solutions.
- Never grow so big that our focus shifts to staff and payroll instead of programs and opportunities for the people we serve.
I am building a team, and I know I have a long journey ahead of me. I ask for your help. Please scan the QR code at the bottom of any page to donate to C4I, sign up to volunteer your time, or donate equipment.
Donnell Nichols
Founder and Executive Director
Words That Carried Him
Two Quotes, Every Day
“Two quotes have carried me through life and motivate me every day. I leave them with you.”
“Some men see things as they are and say, ‘Why?’ I dream things that never were and say, ‘Why not?’” Robert F. Kennedy, paraphrasing George Bernard Shaw
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt, “Citizenship in a Republic,” Paris, April 23, 1910
Leadership Approach
Why C4I Exists and How He Runs It
Three Goals, One Idea
- Open a path into technology: hands-on training, equipment and mentorship that introduce veterans to IT and help them enter certification programs.
- Put the work itself to use: repairing and building with enterprise equipment gives structure and purpose to people used to having a mission.
- Put working computers back into households: machines rebuilt by the people we train, placed with families recovering from disaster.
Three Operating Commitments
- Small and finished beats large and half-built. One program at one location, proven and measured, before the next one starts.
- Measure from the first class. Publish what we find, including what does not work.
- Report the evidence accurately. C4I is not a clinical provider and does not treat any condition. Where research supports what we do, we cite it.
Stand With Us
Whether you are a veteran looking for a way into IT, a company with retired hardware, or a funder looking for measurable impact, the next step takes about two minutes.