He was elected in 2018 by Ward 5 neighbors to serve as their representative on the DC State Board of Education and was later unanimously selected by his colleagues to serve as president of the State Board in 2021. Zachary’s passion for public service is rooted in his two brothers’ struggle with inhumane economic and healthcare systems. His vision is for all neighbors to have a shared quality of life in thriving, healthy communities, regardless of zip code. On November 8th, 2022, Zachary was elected to serve as Ward 5 DC Councilmember, where he will help combat displacement, growing wealth and health disparities, and rising violence.

Before political office, Zachary spent eight years coaching DC public school administrators to improve student learning. Before that, Zachary was an award-winning 7th-grade math teacher in New Orleans, post-Katrina. Zachary sees daily the consequences of young people not receiving a quality education and working-class families unable to leverage the government on their behalf. He has dedicated his life to disrupting inequitable systems that fail Black and brown children and working-class families.

Zachary received a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders (Speech and Language Pathology) from Northwestern University and his Master of Arts degree in Education Policy and Leadership from Columbia University, Teachers College. He is a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, and a board member of Love to Lange, a US-based nonprofit that supports educational programming in Langa, South Africa.

Councilmember Parker’s website iszacharyparkerward5.com

Compress biography