House District 68: Zakiya Summers

“Education is the civil rights issue of our time. I believe, by increasing access to free, quality education, Mississippi will be positioned to improve all other facets of life. As state representative, I will fight for equitable funding, early education, teacher pay and retention strategies, an advanced curriculum, and student safety.”

~ ZAKIYA SUMMERS

  

ABOUT THE CANDIDATE

A native of Jackson, Mississippi, Zakiya Summers graduated from Jim Hill High School and earned a Bachelor of Art in broadcast journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Summers has spent many years in service to the City of Jackson and the state of Mississippi. The businesswoman, writer and journalist, and activist works full-time at the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi as director of communications and advocacy, but also serves as Hinds County Election Commissioner for District 3. Prior to ACLU, she served as events and communications director for One Voice, a policy advocacy organization that works for the benefit of marginalized populations in partnership with community-based organizations, namely the Mississippi NAACP. She also represented the Jackson Medical Mall Thad Cochran Center as public relations manager and internal relations coordinator after working as the morning news producer at WLBT-TV 3.

An entrepreneur, Zakiya owns a corporate event planning and public relations consulting company, Lady Godiva Productions. Mississippi Business Journal selected her as one of the top 50 Business Leading Women of the Year in 2017. She serves as co-chair for the Mississippi Sickle Cell Foundation, board member of the University of Mississippi Medical Center Community Advisory Board, secretary for the Jayne Avenue Neighborhood Association, and Jackson Branch and public relations committee chair for the NAACP. Additionally, she is affiliated with the United Way of the Capital Area’s Young Professional Leaders Council, Women for Progress of Mississippi, Hinds County Federation of Democratic Women, Hinds County Health Department Family Planning Council, Jackson Association of Black Journalists and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Her sorority chapter, Rho Iota Zeta, awarded her the Social Justice Award in 2018. Summers is also a W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership Network Class Two Fellow.

She and her husband, Andra Harlee, have three sons – Marvin, Mason and Mathis. They attend Greater Mt. Bethel Church of Christ Holiness USA in West Jackson.

ABOUT HOUSE DISTRICT 68

Counties represented: Hinds and Rankin Counties

School Districts represented: Hinds County School District, Jackson Public School District, Rankin County School District

Endorsed: 2019