Advocate

Nicky was elected to the Peralta Community College Board of Trustees in 2004. In his two terms, he has served as the Board Vice President, chaired the board’s Facilities and Land Use Committee overseeing more than $200 Million in bond expenditures and facilities growth and spearheading the District’s Environmental Sustainability policies. He has also served as a member of the Board’s Student Services and Student Equity Committee and he has chaired the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability since it’s inception in 2005.

Educator

Nicky has been an instructor at De Anza Community College in Cupertino since 1989 where he just finished a stint as the Chair of the Political Science Department. It’s hard to estimate how many thousands of students Nicky has taught over his career. His main work as a teacher focuses on introducing students to an engaged and populist politics. He teaches not only Introduction to U.S. Government, but also Environmental Politics, Race and Politics, Social Movements and Organizing, Political Theory, Grassroots Leadership Development and Women’s Studies.

Organizer

Nicky is deeply engaged in East Bay progressive electoral politics. He serves on the Boards of both the Asian Pacific American Democratic Caucus of Alameda County and the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club. Both of these Democratic clubs are committed to combining electoral activism with effective issue organizing to build a populist and progressive movement. As a member of or alternate to the California State Democratic Party Central Committee, he has been a delegate to the state party’s annual convention since 2007. He has a long history of organizing for educational access, environmental justice, peace, civil rights and student empowerment.

Activist

In addition to his paid work, for over 30 years Nicky has contributed to the communities in which he has lived. He has worked on a range of projects: from campus anti-apartheid work as a young adult, to the peace movement, to civil rights advocacy, to student and faculty leadership development, voter registration and mobilization, & environmental justice.