Nikki Porcher has been a longtime champion of Black-owned businesses. Now, she’s taking her commitment to helping hard workers a step further – by running for office.
For the past decade, she’s worked on behalf of entrepreneurs as the force behind nonprofit Buy From A Black Woman, an organization that has helped over 700 business owners by connecting them with funding, training and customers. But last October, she embarked upon a new chapter by launching a campaign to become Georgia’s next Commissioner of Labor. It’s a state-wide position that oversees and implements worker regulations and collects labor-related data, among other responsibilities.
The role is currently held by Republican Bárbara Rivera Holmes, who was appointed to the office by Governor Brian Kemp in April 2025, after the death of former Commissioner Bruce Thompson. But current leadership isn’t helping Georgia residents, Porcher argues. Simply put, “people cannot afford to live.”
Indeed, in the Peach State, everything has become harder to pay for, research shows. Childcare costs have spiked from $16,500 in 2020 to $20,600 today. There’s a dearth of affordable housing options. Grocery costs are especially high in the state, and about half of all Georgian families are struggling to afford the essentials.
So, Porcher is vying to oust Holmes – and has already won her first contest to that aim. She clinched the Democratic primary for the position in a runoff election held in June with 61% of the vote. Her campaign contributions thus far have come solely from individual voters, Porcher says. But she’s received several endorsements from groups such as the Georgia Leadership PAC and elected officials like State Sen. Kenya Wicks.
If Porcher wins, she has a list of items she wants to tackle starting day one. “At the top is child care as a workforce issue,” she says, because in addition to soaring costs, many Georgia residents live in “childcare deserts” – roughly 32% of zip codes in the state are categorized as such, in fact.
Raising the official state minimum wage from its current amount, $5.15 per hour, is another top priority for helping voters afford rising costs of living. Though the federal minimum wage, $7.25 per hour, is applied to many workers in Georgia, experts say an actual, livable wage for Georgia residents would be far higher than that. (Consider that in many states, including California and New York, the state minimum wage is $16 or higher.)
And, she wants to refine data collection on Georgia’s labor activity, to ensure “that the numbers are reflecting what’s truly happening” so that lawmakers can better advocate for workers.
For Porcher, It’s Personal
Porcher, also a U.S. Air Force veteran and a former public school teacher, has had a front-row seat to the impacts of policies on everyday people, between her former roles and her nonprofit work.
In particular, she’s seen what happens when the current presidential administration dials back its support for Black-owned businesses. Last year, President Donald Trump signed several executive orders that, together, served to gut the federal Minority Business Development Agency. His rollbacks of diversity, equity and inclusion protections have further hurt Black workers, especially.
The result throughout the U.S.: Grants have been cut, entrepreneurs of growing businesses have been stranded without guidance, job creation has waned and banks have been harder to work with, business owners say. In Georgia, this manifested in part as the cutting of a $3 million Capital Readiness Grant from the Urban League of Greater Atlanta.
Waning opportunities have had impacts even closer to home, Porcher adds. As her son’s high school graduation approached, he began learning a trade, with hopes of turning that knowledge into a well-paying career. But after commencement, he found that there weren’t any jobs available in his chosen vocation – it’s a broader problem, as tariffs have impacted the number of available trade jobs throughout the nation by raising materials costs.
“As a result, he ended up joining the military. He followed my footsteps,” she says. “He’s currently serving actively in the Army – he’s deployed in Iran right now.”
Seeing how the work done by elected officials can directly impact her community – and her family – keeps Porcher fired up as she sets her eyes on Election Day in November. Both her personal and professional pasts have prepared her for the moment, she adds.
She came into campaigning – and would come into the job – “knowing how to build community, knowing how to ensure that research is captured and data is collected, knowing how to listen, knowing how to build programs.” And, “I work with government entities. I work with corporations. I work with small businesses. I’ve worked with employees and employers.”
Porcher’s main goal is to see her fellow Georgia residents thrive. “I believe that we can live, work, and play in Georgia – and that starts with making sure our workforce is supported.” ◼️
