Pennsylvania State Senator Saval was the first Asian American to be elected Democratic ward leader in Philadelphia. Nikil assumed office on December 1, 2020. His current term ends on November 30, 2024.

Nikil organized boycotts with UNITE HERE against luxury hotel developers to fight for the rights of housekeepers in 2009. In 2013, he won back jobs for 1,000 cafeteria workers and noontime aides who had been laid off because of Corbett’s budget cuts to the Philadelphia School District. In 2016, he was a leader in the Bernie Sanders campaign and he co-founded Reclaim Philadelphia. In 2018, he organized campaigns to fight for change in the Democratic Party and became elected as ward leader of the Second Ward. He was a co-editor of n+1, a frequent contributor to The New York Times, and a contributing writer for The New Yorker, covering architecture and design. He still serves on the board of directors of n+1. He has also written a book called “Cubed: A Secret History of the Workplace (2014)”.

Nikil graduated from Columbia College of Columbia University with a B.A. in 2005 and received a Ph.D. in English from Stanford University in 2014.