As an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, Rikio worked in the Student Learning Center, teaching education equity courses to first-generation college students and mentored them through the transition to the university.  He also served as a tutor and peer mentor to fellow students, helping them pursue individual research opportunities and navigate the institution of a large research university.

After graduating, he continued working with underrepresented students on the Japan Exchange Teaching (JET) program.  There he taught English and academic debate, while helping immigrant and mixed-race students apply to universities both in Japan and the United States.  Upon returning to the United States, Rikio began graduate studies at Princeton, finding community and purpose in the Students of Color and Allies (SoCA) community and additional campus Asian American graduate-faculty communities. As a Ph.D. student in the Politics department and APSA Diversity Fellow, he hopes to become a professor in order to paying forward the opportunities he has received through further mentorship of students from underrepresented backgrounds.