INDEPENDENT CAMPAIGN & MOVEMENT STRATEGY · NEW YORK

Bread & Roses
Project

Campaign management first. Ballot access, political strategy and social movement organizing grounded in solidarity.

For candidates, coalitions, and communities who want more than promises. Practical strategy, clear communications, and organizing grounded in solidarity.

FEAR SAYS NOTHING EVER CHANGES. HOPE SAYS WATCH US.
Bread and Roses cornucopia emblem with roses and bread

Bread for dignity.
Roses for a life worth living.

Progressive Campaign ManagementPolitical & Movement StrategyCoalition BuildingCommunity Advocacy
Our purpose

Bread, roses, and the power to win.

People deserve more than survival. They deserve dignity, opportunity, joy, safety, and a real voice in the decisions that shape their lives.

The Bread & Roses Project is a progressive organizing and campaign strategy initiative founded by Christine Nicols. It draws on work across electoral campaigns, grassroots protest, reproductive freedom, racial justice, immigrant rights, and coalition organizing in New York.

Our approach connects the practical work of campaigns with the long-term work of building power: listening to communities, developing leaders, creating clear messages, and turning shared demands into organized action.

What we do

Strategy that meets people where they are.

01 / CAMPAIGNS

Campaign leadership

Campaign planning, voter contact strategy, volunteer mobilization, field operations, messaging, outreach, and election-cycle coordination.

02 / MOVEMENTS

Grassroots organizing

Community mobilization, direct-action planning, issue campaigns, public demonstrations, and sustainable local organizing.

03 / SOLIDARITY

Coalition development

Connecting residents, organizers, labor allies, advocacy organizations, and community partners around shared goals.

04 / COMMUNICATIONS

Message & media

Clear public narratives, press outreach, event communications, digital organizing, and materials that help people act.

05 / ADVOCACY

Rights & public policy

Organizing around reproductive freedom, racial and economic justice, immigrant rights, and an accountable democracy.

06 / CAPACITY

People-powered infrastructure

Volunteer onboarding, practical workflows, campaign systems, and community relationships that endure after election day.

Experience, organized by the work

Three disciplines. One commitment to building power.

From managing an election to qualifying a measure for the ballot to organizing for civil rights, the work takes different forms. Explore the projects, field experience and public record behind each.

01 / ELECTORAL WORK

Campaign Management & Elections

Campaign management is a central part of the practice, not a footnote. Strategy has to become field plans, volunteer leadership, voter contact, earned media and the daily decisions that carry a campaign through Election Day.

01
CAMPAIGN MANAGER · 2026 · YONKERS, NEW YORK

Leslye Oquendo-Thomas for Westchester County Legislature

Campaign management for District 17, coordinating voter-contact programs, volunteers, coalition partnerships, events, campaign communications and election operations. The campaign received 2,087 votes on the Working Families Party line, exceeding the prior district high by more than four times.

Campaign links and archived materials
2026 campaign field table and volunteer outreach materials photographed on the campaign trail
Christine with another attendee at a 2026 political campaign gathering
Candidate events Relationships and political organizing on the 2026 campaign trail
Christine alongside other participants in 2026 candidate outreach
Campaign trail Supporting candidates and building local connections
Christine photographed with a fellow attendee at a 2026 campaign event
Coalitions and outreach Political partnerships beyond a single race

Other candidate campaigns

Campaign organizing and outreach across New York, including work associated with Mike Goldfarb, Chuck Park and additional candidates. Roles varied by effort; not every campaign listed was managed by Christine.

Operations that make campaigns work

Field organizing, volunteer coordination, event production, candidate messaging, public advocacy, coalition relationships and practical systems for voter contact.

02 / DIRECT DEMOCRACY

Ballot Initiatives & Petition Operations

Direct democracy requires accuracy, discipline and conversations with voters who may be hearing about an issue for the first time.

02
FIELDWORK / CALIFORNIA & MULTISTATE

From a petition to the ballot

Signature gathering and voter-facing ballot-access work, including petition operations in San Francisco and other California locations. The work encompasses explaining measures accurately, engaging voters, keeping field records organized, and meeting the practical demands of a signature drive.

Christine's March 2026 California field archive includes petition and circulation materials. To protect voter privacy, completed petition sheets and signatures are not published.

BALLOT
ACCESS

Public conversations · Signature collection · Field operations · Direct democracy

03 / ISSUE ORGANIZING

Social Movements & Advocacy

The movement work belongs together: civil rights, reproductive freedom, racial justice, immigration, survivor advocacy, democracy, economic justice, rapid response and know-your-rights education.

03
Organizers holding a pink Together We Fight for All banner at a reproductive-rights march
Reproductive freedom Marches, Planned Parenthood advocacy and organizing for bodily autonomy
Protesters holding a We've Only Just Begun sign at a women's march
Women's rights and suffrage Public mobilization and the continuing fight for equal political representation
Protest signs arranged outdoors at a community demonstration
Protest and public accountability Organizing resources and signs from the personal protest archive
Christine Nicols speaking at a January 6 anniversary vigil in Glens Falls
Democracy and accountability · 2022 A speech calling for accountability after January 6, including the principle that voters determine election outcomes
DEMOCRACY & ACCOUNTABILITY

January 6 anniversary remarks

At a Glens Falls vigil one year after January 6, Christine called for elected-official accountability, condemned white supremacy and defended the principle that the people, not politicians, determine election results. The speech included a demand for Rep. Elise Stefanik to resign.

Related WAMC reporting
RACIAL JUSTICE · CAPITAL REGION

Black Lives Matter, 518 AID and Darryl Mount

Christine's organizing archive includes Black Lives Matter work and efforts against systemic inequality in Warren County and the surrounding region. The Glens Falls Chronicle documented her involvement in organizing Fort Edward demonstrations and 518 AID. In nearby Saratoga Springs, the continuing demands for answers and accountability in Darryl Mount Jr.'s death became a central focus of BLM mobilization.

The Saratoga article documents the wider movement; it does not independently establish Christine's participation in that specific event.
REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE

Women's marches and Planned Parenthood

Women's-rights organizing, public speaking and advocacy for reproductive freedom, including work in Glens Falls and Saratoga. North Country Public Radio covered Christine's remarks encouraging people to volunteer, organize and vote.

2020 Women's March coverage
IMMIGRANT RIGHTS & CIVIL LIBERTIES

Rapid response and know your rights

Immigrant-rights solidarity, rapid-response organizing, legal-observer education, community defense and know-your-rights training. This work includes helping people navigate the gap between their rights on paper and what happens during encounters with authorities.

ECONOMIC JUSTICE

“This Is What Inequality Looks Like”

Issue organizing and public speaking in Warren County addressing inequality, dignity, community investment and accountability. The related speech and event documentation are being organized within the advocacy archive.

SUFFRAGE & VOTING RIGHTS

100 years of women's voting rights

Women's political participation and commemoration of the 19th Amendment centennial belong in the historical advocacy record. The precise publication and photographs from the event are still being matched before naming a specific news article here.

More from the archiveAdditional photographs, campaign history, speeches and press references
People-powered work

The work is in the streets, the rooms, and the conversations.

From voter outreach tables to community demonstrations and organizing with candidates, these moments are part of a longer story of showing up and building collective power.

Organizers and advocates together at a public event
Coalitions and community events
Campaign outreach at a public table
Field organizing and direct conversations
Public demonstration and organizing materials
Community advocacy and direct action
Electoral & ballot-initiative experience

More than one election.
More than one way to build power.

From managing a county legislature campaign to supporting candidates, petitioning, ballot initiatives, and organizing across states, this is work across different roles and years.

CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT · 2026

Leslye Oquendo-Thomas

Campaign Manager for the Westchester County Legislature District 17 race. Voter contact, field operations, volunteer coordination, coalition partnerships, campaign communications, and public events. The campaign earned 2,087 votes on the Working Families Party ballot line.

Explore campaign resources
VOLUNTEER & GRASSROOTS CAMPAIGN WORK

Chuck Park

Volunteer engagement and participation in Chuck Park's Queens congressional campaign, alongside broader grassroots electoral organizing in New York City.

Campaign archive
CANDIDATE CAMPAIGN COLLABORATIONS

Deanna Marino, Abir & other candidates

Candidate-support, volunteer, and campaign-event experience from the wider organizing archive. Roles and dates differ by campaign and are not represented here as formal management contracts.

CANDIDATE ORGANIZING

Joshua Goldfarb & additional campaigns

Work across campaign organizing, election-related outreach and candidate relationships, with materials from multiple cycles and communities.

DIRECT DEMOCRACY · CALIFORNIA

San Francisco ballot initiatives

Petition circulation and ballot-access efforts, part of broader experience in public-facing field campaigns and direct democracy. The archive includes California petitioning photographs and materials.

PETITION OPERATIONS · MULTISTATE

Ballot access & signature gathering

Signature collection, petition-drive operations, training, and voter interactions across issue and candidate efforts. This includes work focused on precision, compliance, and ensuring voters understand what a petition would place on the ballot.

UPSTATE NEW YORK · COALITION ADVOCACY

#StopStefanik

Coalition and constituent organizing opposing Elise Stefanik, including demonstrations and public accountability actions. Christine's notes document work groups focused on community organizing and accountability.

Related coverage
ECONOMIC JUSTICE · ADVOCACY

Tax the Rich · Fund Our Future

Public-facing advocacy and organizing around equitable taxation, community investment and economic dignity, including protest messaging and mobilization planning.

Current workWhat I’m building nowBread & Roses · advocacy · nonprofit service · children and families View current projects +
POLITICAL & MOVEMENT STRATEGY

Bread & Roses Project

A home for campaign management, organizing, coalition-building, public advocacy, and political strategy across New York and beyond.

HAITI · NONPROFIT

Voice of the Children Foundation

Board service and humanitarian work in support of community-led initiatives for Haitian children and families.

Visit the foundation
CHILDREN & FAMILY SUPPORT

Miss Christine’s Merry Poppins

Child behavioral specialist work, support for children and families, and an independent professional project.

COMMUNITY & HUMAN RIGHTS

Advocacy and organizing

Immigrant rights, survivor-centered advocacy, women's rights, political participation, and community accountability.

Advocacy in action

Making the case.
Taking the microphone.

From public testimony and televised interviews to marches and street-level community organizing, advocacy means speaking up, making the issues visible, and insisting that people's rights are more than political talking points.

Television coverage identifying Christine Nicols as an abortion justice advocate
Abortion justice advocacyFeatured in a televised report as Christine Nicols, Abortion Justice Advocate.
Evening women's rights rally with microphones and demonstrators
Public demonstrationsOrganizing, speeches and community action.
Demonstrator displaying a Bans Off Our Bodies protest sign
Bodily autonomyWomen's and reproductive rights movements.

Christine's public advocacy includes organizing, public speaking, reproductive-rights campaigns and survivor-centered issues. Additional video clips and event photographs will be added as specific appearances are identified in the archive.

A record of advocacy

Human rights. Civil rights.
Community power.

Organizing is not confined to elections. It means showing up for the people most affected by policy decisions, standing against injustice, and building the relationships required to create durable change.

01 / IMMIGRANT RIGHTS

Immigration justice & community defense

Immigrant rights advocacy, know-your-rights education, work challenging detention and deportation, and support for people navigating asylum and immigration systems. Training notes include ICE encounters, access to counsel, and protecting constitutional rights.

02 / WOMEN'S RIGHTS

Reproductive freedom & abortion advocacy

Women's marches, reproductive-rights advocacy, and public mobilization for bodily autonomy. In 2020, North Country Public Radio documented Christine speaking at the Glens Falls Women's March and urging people to organize and vote.

Read the reporting
03 / RACIAL JUSTICE

Black Lives Matter & 518 AID

Demonstrations, organizing and community education against systemic discrimination in the Glens Falls and Fort Edward area. Local coverage documents Christine's role in organizing and developing 518 AID.

Read the coverage
04 / HUMAN & CIVIL RIGHTS

Community demonstrations & legal observation

Participation in public protests, legal-observer education, voter protection efforts, and civic organizing for equal treatment and accountability.

05 / ECONOMIC JUSTICE

Workers, housing & public services

Issue advocacy focused on dignity, affordability, and public investment, including Tax the Rich organizing and coalition work.

06 / ENVIRONMENT & DEMOCRACY

Environmental & community organizing

Public actions and coalition participation around environmental justice, democratic accountability, and sustainable local communities.

07 / SURVIVOR ADVOCACY

Domestic violence & sexual-assault advocacy

Advocacy for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, support for victim-centered responses, and a commitment to safety, dignity and access to resources. This is described as advocacy work without disclosing private survivor experiences.

Organizing practice

From the field to the microphone.

Campaigns are built through relationships, preparation, logistics, communication, and the willingness to do the unglamorous work.

Christine's résumé notes describe serving as co-chair of SWWPA, helping coordinate more than 50 community events and actions; recruiting and supporting volunteers; interviewing candidates; arranging venues, speakers and performers; coordinating public communications and press; and working with local officials, donors and community groups.

The notes also describe advocacy and coalition-building across election cycles, including work with progressive organizations and local candidates.

In the news

The public record.

Selected public references document parts of the work. More articles and campaign archives will be added as they are verified.

Black Lives Matter march and rally in Fort Edward

The Glens Falls Chronicle discusses Christine Nicols's role in organizing, community education, and the development of 518 AID.

View newspaper PDF

Laughs for Leslye campaign fundraiser

A public campaign event listing names Christine Nicols as a co-host alongside Leslye for Westchester and Jamaal Bowman.

View event archive

Women's March and the politics of collective action

North Country Public Radio reports on the march and quotes Christine urging people to rise up, volunteer and make their voices heard.

Read NCPR coverage
The meaning behind our name

Why Bread & Roses?

Bread is what we need to survive: food, housing, healthcare, fair wages, and security. Roses are what we deserve beyond survival: dignity, joy, beauty, opportunity, and a meaningful voice in our future.

The phrase comes from the labor movement and is closely associated with the 1912 textile workers' strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Its message remains radical in its simplicity: people should not have to choose between making a living and having a life.

For the Bread & Roses Project, that means fighting for material change while building lasting community power. Not just a victory on Election Day, and never empty promises in place of results.

The Bread & Roses philosophy

Not empty promises.
Concrete change.

Too much of politics is designed to placate communities with reassuring words while leaving the structures that hurt them intact. We believe the measure of organizing is not whether people feel temporarily heard, but whether they gain a real say and see meaningful changes in their lives.

Fear says nothing ever changes.
Hope says watch us.

Campaign archivePast campaigns & ballot initiativesLeslye for Westchester · Mike Goldfarb · Chuck Park · Deanna Marino · Abir · San Francisco petition work · #StopStefanik Explore projects +
Christine Nicols, founder and principal of Bread and Roses Project
Christine Nicols · Founder & Principal
The person behind the work

Christine Nicols

Campaign manager. Political strategist. Community organizer.

An organizer who believes that political work should be accountable to the people it claims to serve.

Christine's experience spans electoral operations, coalition partnerships, community protests, and rights-based advocacy. Her work combines on-the-ground organizing with communication, strategy, and the practical systems that help volunteers and communities turn conviction into collective action.

Working across New York and beyond.

Beyond the campaign trail

Connect. Follow. Collaborate.

Bread & Roses Project is part of a wider practice of organizing, community advocacy and work alongside grassroots movements. Explore the related work or get in touch about campaigns and partnerships.

COMMUNITY & HUMANITARIAN WORK

Voice of the Children Foundation · Haiti

A separate Haitian nonprofit supporting education, nutrition, community-led projects and opportunity for children and families in Haiti. Christine serves on the foundation's Board of Directors.

Visit Voice of the Children
SOCIAL MEDIA & VIDEO

Instagram & TikTok

Follow the work, from campaign trails and community actions to daily organizing and advocacy.

TikTokQueen Christine N
InstagramChristine E Nichols

Profile names confirmed. Direct account URLs will be added when the exact handles are verified.

CHILDREN & FAMILY SUPPORT

Miss Christine’s Merry Poppins

Christine’s child behavioral specialist work, focused on helping children and families through individualized support, care, and connection. A distinct professional project from the nonprofit and campaign work.

Dedicated webpage link to be added once verified

CAMPAIGN ARCHIVE

Leslye for Westchester

Campaign information and organizing resources from the 2026 Westchester County Legislature election.

Visit campaign resources
CONTACT

Start a conversation

Partnerships, field strategy, public action, community outreach and campaign work.

breadrosesproject@gmail.com
Get in touch

Let's build something that matters.

For campaign collaborations, community organizing, strategic partnerships, and press inquiries, reach out to Bread & Roses Project.

Email the Project