ABOUT NIKKI RIVERA
A Vision for the Future
Nikki Rivera for PA envisions a future where equity meets opportunity. By prioritizing inclusivity and empowerment, Nikki is dedicated to creating a platform where every voice is valued and heard. Her mission is to bridge the gap and ensure that all constituents have access to the resources and representation they deserve.
Nikki was born in rural Carlisle, PA, where she lived with her grandparents and her mother through 8th grade. She spent her early years helping in her grandparents’ large garden, tinkering in her grandfather’s workshop, fishing with her grandfather on the Conodoguinet creek, and playing in neighboring cornfields and friends’ barns. Throughout high school, she moved several times - Camp Hill, PA, then Chula Vista, CA - and returned to Carlisle where she graduated high school in 1990. From the age of 14, Nikki has often held several jobs at a time: a server in restaurants, food service at Dickinson College, food service and library assistant as a student at the University of Pittsburgh (H2P!), tutoring, and even plasma donation to help make ends meet.
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After earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish at Pitt in 1994, and then completing teacher certification at Shippensburg University in 1995, she married Ramón and moved to Lancaster, where he was already a science teacher at Wheatland middle school. Nikki was hired as a high school Spanish teacher at Warwick in 1995 and spent the next 30 years helping to build her students’ love of the Spanish language, foster their curiosity about the world, and inspire them to have the “ganas” to take their learning outside the classroom and into their adult lives. Besides local field trips to restaurants, festivals, churches, and performances, she also led student trips to the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Nikki served as the high school’s GSA advisor (LGBTQ+ students and allies), the Spanish honor society advisor, and she served as a member of the Student Assistance Program, which helps connect students to needs related to academic, mental, physical, and emotional health. Building people and community has been her life’s work.
Nikki and her husband, Ramón, have lived in Manheim Township for 31 years. They are parents to 5 beloved adults: Itzia (patient care assistant), Tyler (x-ray tech and continuing college student), Raquel (RN - emergency department), Paloma (college student earning RN - emergency department), and Liliana (college student and home healthcare worker). They enjoy multigenerational living experiences as evidenced by taking in Ramon’s grandmother in September 2014 - May 2024, when she passed away at home at age 107. Nikki’s mother, Ginny, lives with the Riveras and enjoys ample time spent with her children and grandchildren. Nikki and Ramón treasure the company of their two dogs, Finnegan and Daisy, and their daughter’s two cats, Nugget and Noodle, as well as additional grand-dogs and a grand-bunny.
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Nikki and her husband attended Manheim Township school board meetings regularly beginning in 2012, just after the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in CT, to express their concern with safety in MT schools. Nikki often delivered public comments during board meetings and actually influenced board decisions (like NOT eliminating the Spanish Immersion program in MTSD in 2013). She then took the advice of a friend and ran for school board. She lost her first campaign in 2015, but returned to attending school board meetings regularly right away to continue voicing her opinions and perspective, as a parent and a teacher, during public comments. In 2016, a seated school board director resigned from board service and, after holding a public interview for the vacancy, the majority Republican board appointed Nikki, a Democrat, to fill the available seat. In 2017, Nikki was elected to the Manheim Township school board and served as board president for four years. She was re-elected in 2021, and served as board president from 2023-2024. Nikki resigned from the Manheim Township school board and from teaching after winning the election for PA State House of Representatives for House District 96 in November, 2024.
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Nikki’s decision to pursue the position of State Representative for House District 96 stemmed from her years of advocacy for quality public education and fair funding for schools. Since her election in 2024, she has acquired a wealth of knowledge and experiences in many realms of legislation. Nikki currently serves on 7 House committees, the Chesapeake Bay Commission, and as secretary for the Central PA Delegation of the House Democrats.
