Nikuyah Walker is a social justice advocate who is currently bearing the responsibility to serve the city of Charlottesville as a mayor. Her term expired on 31 December 2021. She was elected to be the city’s first female African-American mayor who was elected on 2 January 2018 after being elected as the president of Charlottesville City Council. Some of her major responsibilities as a mayor included conduction of council meetings and acting as the head of the city for ceremonial purposes.
Early life
Nikuyah Rashelle Walker was born on 17th January 1980 in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA. She attended the public school of the city of Charlottesville. Her extended family members are recently residing in Nelson County. She graduated from Charlottesville High School in 1998 and earned her degree in B.A. in political science from Virginia Commonwealth University and also attained her BA degree in 2004.
Nikuyah Walker Career
Nikuyah Walker worked for several non-profit organizations in Charlottesville in multiple roles including an HIV Prevention Educator, a Substance Abuse Clinician, and a Community Organizer. Currently, she has been employed by the city of Charlottesville in the department of parks and recreation. She ran as an independent candidate and won one of the two open seats in the 2017 elections on the Charlottesville City Council. Her campaign received a windfall of $10,000 as the largest individual donation in the whole year.
She is the first black woman who was elected as a mayor in the city where African-Americans are included in 1/5th of the whole population of the city. During the Facebook live event in February 2020, she announced that she would seek a second term in the council of the city. However, she stayed silent on her plans for 2021 until May 2021, when she announced that she would run again. Her campaign was defined by the following major events (including the issues of housing (affordable), addressing racial inequality in the community, and addressing the local government transparency):
Notable Works
- Working on the concerns and listen to the acts and fix problems
- Improving the coordination of traffic lights
- Focusing on the concerns that included the subsidized units at the Friendship court.
- Focus on the councilors who need to be respectful in terms of their elected officials in other localities too.
- The major issue was to fix problems related to housing to which Walker resembled that we do not have much land so it needs to be rectified.
The voters were allowed to cast two votes, one for each available seat. Hence the percentage was not included to be 100% for the one. Before the elections, Walker appeared before the council multiple times to create awareness towards the inequality being created in Charlottesville. She announced her candidacy on 14 March 2017 and said that she will run at the request of Holy Edwards- late former city councilor. Walker addressed the two issues- racial disparities and low-income housing. She also addressed creating transparency in the ways the government was being funded.
Nikuyah Walker Biography |
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| Real Name | Nikuyah Rashelle Walker |
| Birth Date | January 17, 1980 |
| Age (as of 2021) | 40 Years |
| Birth Place | Charlottesville, Virginia, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Profession | Civil Servant & Activist |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Sun sign | – |
Physical Statistics |
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| Height | in feet inches – 5’ 7” – in Centimeters – 170 cm |
| Weight | in Kilograms – 67 kg – in Pounds – 147 lbs |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Eye Color | Black |
| Body Type | Average |
Family |
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| Father | – |
| Mother | – |
| Sister | – |
| Brother | – |
Qualification/Education |
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| School | Charlottesville High School |
| College | Virginia Commonwealth University |
Relationship Status |
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| Marital Status | Married |
| Who is her husband? | Not Known |
| Children | Three |
Personal life
Nikuyah Walker has kept her personal life private from the public’s eye. however, as far as her family is concerned, she is married and a mother to three children.
Nikuyah Walker Net worth
As being estimated in the general sense, the salary of an elected mayor is $20,000 that is the maximum in it and as much as allowed under the guidelines of the state. Also, Charlottesville is one of those states that has set the highest average range of salary for the council members in Virginia. Moreover, the state code has set salary limits for the members of the council (that is to be based on the population range) from $11,000 to $30,000.
Trivia
- Nikuyah was elected to be the first independent candidate in the city council since 1940. One of the major goals being set by her was affordable housing in the city.
- Nikuyah also participated in the National Memorial for Peace and Justice to honor the memory of John Henry James- who was lynched outside the city in 1898.
- In the municipal elections, Walker ran for one of the two available seats and won around 29.13% of the votes replacing the incumbent Bob Fenwick.
- Walker set the record for the number of votes being received by any candidate in the history of the city.
- According to the former democratic Mayor Dave Norris Nikuyah Walker’s campaign encouraged people to vote for her and it was the first time when any independent candidate was being elected to the council since 1948.
