Nikki Zaahir joined SEMI last year as senior program administrator on the SEMI Works team after spending the last 15 years designing, coordinating and directing programs that help people develop job skills and find full-time employment. Her career includes roles at the Department of Defense, the National Security Agency, America Works and Vehicles for Change.
I spoke with Nikki about her passion for workforce development as we celebrate Black History Month.
Williams-Vaden: What does Black History Month mean to you?
Zaahir: Black History Month means to me an opportunity to highlight the overwhelming influence of the inventions that Black Americans contributed to this country. Of all the Black history shared this month, it’s the inventors that have always intrigued and excited me the most. I grew up in a home with parents that taught my siblings and me the history of our culture every day. However, each February I was allowed to research and share my own list of what we called “little known Black history facts.” A couple of my favorites from my childhood are Lonnie Johnson, who invented the Super Soaker water gun, and Alexander Miles, who developed automatic elevator doors in 1887. Frankly, Black History Month reminds me to be proud to be Black and to take a moment to pay homage to the excellence and fortitude of my people.
Williams-Vaden: Where are you from, and where did you go to school?
Zaahir: I am from the suburbs of Maryland right outside of Washington, D.C. I grew up in a military family. My father was the first black 1st Sargent in his transportation company. His unit was responsible for transporting heavy artillery equipment around the world. I went to Meade Senior High School on the army base of Fort Meade.
Williams-Vaden: How did you get started in the semiconductor industry?
Zaahir: While in the 11th grade, I was actively recruited by a semiconductor company that had recently won a National Security Agency government contract at Fort Meade to make semiconductors for the military.
I excelled in English and Science and met the requirements for the work study, which allowed me to spend half of my day in school and the other half at a work study assignment. The company tested a couple of hundreds of students and I was one of the 34 chosen for the career development program. I worked as a technician responsible for the fabrication and processing of the semiconductor wafer. My favorite steps of this process were the spin on glass and gasses chambers in the fab. What lit a fire in me was the realization that there is a whole world of technology opportunities that people like me were unaware of.
Nikki Zaahir, in her former role as National Director of Workforce Development and Training at Vehicles for Change, with interns training to be certified automotive technicians.
Williams-Vaden: Did you have any mentors or sponsors who were particularly meaningful as you developed your career?
Zaahir: I’ve been very fortunate to be mentored and supported by many people on my professional journey. Peter Cove and Dr. Lee Bowes are a social activist couple who own America Works. They were instrumental in my understanding of workforce development by teaching me that self-sufficiency through gainful employment can change generational poverty. However, the most meaningful people to me are those whose lives I’ve had the absolute pleasure to help change. For example, at Vehicles for Change, I created a social enterprise designed to assist returning citizens (people formerly incarcerated) with training and job placement. In three years, we placed 200 men and women in the workforce with no one reoffending or returning to prison within three years. What made this group of individuals special is that I chose to focus on violent offenders that served 10 years or more in prison.
Williams-Vaden: What motivates you in your work?
Zaahir: What drives me is helping people become aware of careers that could not only change their lives but the lives of their families, and waking up every day determined to be that conduit of information and job opportunities.
Williams-Vaden: What is wonderful and challenging about workforce development?
Zaahir: Inspiring people to consider educations and careers that may have never been on their minds is the most rewarding aspect of workforce development. To see people who have felt left out of training and employment opportunities due to their backgrounds or lack of higher education take charge and pursue educations and careers that before were only a dream makes this work worth it. On the other side of that, convincing someone who has felt left behind or unworthy of a better life for themselves and their family can be challenging.
Williams-Vaden: Is there a particular story about someone you’ve worked with or helped that you’d like to tell?
Zaahir: Eight-time Grammy award winning artist Lauryn Hill of the legendary hip hop group The Fugees once said “In my travels all over the world, I have come to realize that what distinguishes one child from another is not ability, but access. Access to education, access to opportunity, access to love.”
I have been blessed beyond measure to work with and help so many people at this point in my career. What I’d like to share is while talent is abundant, access and opportunity are not. That is the story.
Williams-Vaden: What is something unusual about you that people might not know?
Zaahir: I’ve studied at the Arthur Findlay College, the world’s foremost college for the Advancement of Spiritualism and Psychic Sciences. Oh! the ghost stories I could tell.
Williams-Vaden: What would you tell young people interested in working in the semiconductor industry?
Zaahir: In this industry, you will develop transferable skills for almost any career in manufacturing or production and the ability to make a salary that will provide the opportunity to afford living in safe neighborhoods, reliable transportation and vacations! You can pursue a wide range of skills, training, education and other professional development opportunities in this industry – all while maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
Michelle Williams-Vaden is deputy director of the SEMI Foundation.