Nikki is the founder and CEO of Zulama, a company that worked with faculty at Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center to develop a program that schools use to teach programming, art, and design skills to middle and high schoolers. The platform immerses students in the same technology used to design today’s most popular video games. The program combines Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math with the Arts (STEAM) to give students both the skills and creativity they need to thrive in the new global digital workplace.

The inspiration for Zulama came from observing how her two teenage sons were obsessed with Minecraft and other games. Navta became fascinated with game-based learning and realized that both making and playing games are engaging, motivating, and scientifically-proven ways to learn.

Nikki graduated from St Lawrence University with a multifield major in Mathematics and Fine Arts, and has been working on products that combine the best of left-and right-brain thinking ever since. Her 20+ years working on the product development side of the educational textbook publishing industry gave her the curriculum development, product design, and sales experience to launch Zulama.

Zulama’s mission is: “to create information, systems and tools that inspire life-changing educational experiences for students and their mentors.”