This was probably the last place most people would want to be on a Saturday—at a North Carolina Democratic Party state executive committee meeting on the campus of Fayetteville State University. It’s a gathering of A-listers within the party who would spend most of the day wishing they’d brought more snacks. They are the decision-makers, the ones to decide who runs the party, how the money gets spent, and what the party stands for.

And it’s a lot of money.

The virtual doors opened at 7:30 a.m., and the meeting started at 9:00 a.m., pretty much on time. But don’t expect to see an auditorium of homogeneous-thinking or -looking party elites. The SEC members, as they are called, run the gamut in their positions and titles. Some are elected officials on city councils and boards of county commissioners. Others are county party chairs and officers, seated by county next to directional placards. Many are grassroots party volunteers who have given decades of time, energy, and money to the party. They are your next-door neighbors, in every literal sense.

To some, this may seem to be an oxymoron. The name “state executive committee” implies that you’ve reached the C-suite of the party, and in many ways you have. It’s just not the type of C-suite you normally think of.

The SEC meeting is attended by a 500-plus-member board plus guests, with the country’s youngest state party chair at its head. And then there’s Niayai “Ni” Lavien, party affairs director for the North Carolina Democratic Party since 2023.

The first thing you notice isn't the credentials, clipboard, or the job title, as she makes her way through the crowd back to her seat at the front of the auditorium.

It isn't the laptop, the gold heels, or the constant movement that comes with orchestrating an event for hundreds of Democratic leaders from across North Carolina. She’s all smiles, all the time, amidst the grilling that she sometimes receives as the point person for pulling it all together. This is not to say that there aren’t staff and volunteers pulling their weight. But from an operational perspective, when the shit hits the fan, a lot of it lands on Lavien.

At this meeting, it's what she’s wearing that catches your eye.

It’s a denim jacket, thrifted for just two dollars at a shop in West Charlotte and transformed into a wearable scrapbook of her political career. Every button tells a story. There was the campaign she volunteered for, the leadership race she entered, and the movement she went all in on.

One button marks her run for Third Vice Chair of her county party. It’s a signal to those who understand where that seat can take you. Across the counties, it’s the third vice chair seat where you frequently find younger Democrats building their political career, handling everything from social media to coordinating special events and managing teams of volunteers. Several of Lavien’s buttons trace back to the very first presidential campaign she worked on, Elizabeth Warren's. Lavien has been collecting buttons since she was 19 years old.

While hundreds of delegates attended the North Carolina Democratic Party's State Executive Committee meeting, Levine wasn't there simply to participate.

Over 4 million people have had the same lightbulb moment.

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She was helping make sure it happened. As the party affairs director for the North Carolina Democratic Party, Levine helps organize some of the organization's largest and most visible events, including SEC meetings, the annual state convention, and coordination with the party's various committees. Touring prospective facilities, checking on food options and sometimes food trucks, and confirming parking arrangements are among the tasks on the long to-do list for some of these events.

It's the kind of work that attendees often don't notice unless something goes wrong. Imagine working for over 500 people on the daily.

Levine and the party staff arrived in Fayetteville the evening before the meeting. By 6:30 the next morning, staff members were already preparing registration, meeting spaces, logistics, and countless behind-the-scenes details. All those county directional signs placed throughout the auditorium didn’t get there by magic.

The auditorium has a seating capacity of 1,132, and “famed artists such as The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The Godfather of Soul James Brown, Duke Ellington, Jasmine Guy, Hill Harper, Ron Jaworski, Maya Angelou, Philadanco, Wynton Marsalis and others have graced the Seabrook stage.”

By the time delegates began arriving, much of the day's work had already been done. The production team was in place, and the backdrop had been given a home directly across from the registration table.

The expectation? Nearly 500 people in attendance. For attendees, the meeting may last a day. For the staff, it represents weeks, or even months, of planning.

But back to the jacket. For Lavien, the jacket says something larger than fashion ever could. Political life is often measured in campaigns, conventions, and election nights. People are networking for the next political job or appointment. Levine's collection measures her political life in memories. She is almost wearing her political life on her sleeve.

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