Our February Activist of the month, Nikki Navaille, grew up right here in Orlando. Her family is from
New Orleans and moved to Orlando around the time she was born. Her mom was a teacher when she was
in elementary school and later became a stay-at-home mom. Her dad is a civil engineer specializing in
highway design. She has a brother, Robert, who now lives in Rhode Island. From elementary school
through high school, Nikki was a competitive baton twirler and won local and national competitions with
both her team and individually.
She attended the University of Central Florida and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in ceramics and a
Bachelor of Arts in art history. During her last semester of college, she did a short-term study abroad over
the summer in Italy and studied Renaissance and Baroque art and architecture in Florence and Rome. Her
favorite part of being in Italy was eating amazing pizza and gelato while being surrounded by centuries-
old art.
She’s been with her boyfriend, Collin, for seven years. They don't have plans for kids yet, but they do
have a very large and very loving shelter dog named Apple. Since graduating, Nikki has worked a variety
of jobs, including being a studio assistant in the ceramics lab at UCF, an artist assistant to nationally
recognized sculptor Barbara Sorensen, and as a salesperson with Laguna Clay Company. She is looking
to going into teaching and would like to teach high school ceramics. She recently purchased her very own
pottery kiln, and is looking to open an online store to sell handmade ceramics later this year.
Nikki first got involved in supporting Democratic activism while in college with the College Democrats
at UCF during President Obama's re-election campaign. Her favorite activity with College Dems was
voter registration. That year, she helped with the massive effort of registering over 11,000 students to
vote. She had the privilege of hearing President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama speak at UCF and
participated in President Obama's press motorcade!
Nikki joined SemDems right before the pandemic started in 2020. Her main goal was to get a Democrat
elected president, and hopefully get down ballot Democrats elected as well.
Most of all, she likes making graphics and flyers for SemDems. She made door hangers, mailers, social
media graphics, signs, buttons, and T-shirts during campaign. Now that we're past election season, she
looks forward to making graphics to help SemDems members and voters hold their elected
representatives accountable.
Nikki says, “The thing I like the best about participating with SemDems is helping to build a local party
from the ground up, and supporting candidates and activism that reflect my values of equality, inclusion,
and justice. I like meeting other local people who care about their community and their country, and want
to make it a better place.”
When not supporting SemDems, Nikki’s hobbies include ceramics, drawing, sewing, knitting, and
coding. She’s also recently taken up home improvement projects and has painted most of the inside of her
house, replaced light fixtures and electrical outlets, and is working her way through replacing faucets and
sinks. Prior to the pandemic, she also enjoyed travelling and visiting art museums. Among her favorites
are the Art Institute of Chicago and Uffizi Gallery in Florence.