From 2018-2021, he served as the Director of Education and Community Engagement at Transcendence Theater Company. He produced all education and community programming for 11,000 youth and adults annually, focusing on equitable arts access for underserved communities. He has created Corporate Professional Development programs for Google, Sotheby’s, and other Bay Area Executive Teams. Contributor to Sonoma County Arts Education Framework. Keynote speaker at CA Migrant Education, Stanford University, Emory University, UCSC, and more.

After years as a performer in New York and around the world, Nikko realized a pattern in the roles for which he was being considered: a young Latino man with a gun in a gang with a thick accent. Desperate for complex storytelling, he was faced with a choice: “Do I wait for the industry to change?” or “Do I learn new skills to help change the industry.” The latter was his start in a world of storytelling that seeks to honor and celebrate the cultural wealth of diverse communities. “And now,” says Nikko, “I get the JOY of continuing to collaborate with passionate, talented artists in creating a more inclusive and just world for all of us.”

For his commitment as a change-maker and a trailblazer, forging new paths while working to create equity in existing systems, and most especially for listening and leading with his heart, Nikko Kimzin is the 2023 Jackie Hoffner Heart & Hope Award Winner.

Thank you for all of the nominations and to the selection committee members: Renay Weissberger Fanelli, Jenness Brewer, and Matt Villano.