Mississippi Representative Zakiya Summers (D)

Healthcare Innovation Fellow

Zakiya Summers is a servant leader and civil rights activist. She is embarking upon her second term as State Representative for House District 68, which covers portions of West Jackson in Hinds County, and Flowood, Pearl and Richland in Rankin County. Her proudest achievement thus far is casting her vote to start the process of removing the old Mississippi Confederate Flag and replacing it with an inclusive one. Rep. Summers has also helped to garner more than $57 million in funds to local projects in the city of Jackson, Hinds and Rankin Counties, combined.

She is the former Election Commissioner for Hinds County District 3 and former Director of Communications and Advocacy for the ACLU of Mississippi. For more than a decade Rep. Summers has led campaigns to address systemic barriers in the community at the intersections of voting rights, criminal justice, educational equity, healthcare access, and racial justice. Zakiya is also a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., where she serves as her chapter’s social action chair, a board member of Refill Jackson Initiative; a W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership Network Fellow, E Pluribus Unum fellow, Fair Fight fellow, and Women’s Democracy Lab fellow; a member of the 2022 class of Leadership Greater Jackson; and a graduate of Council of State Governments prestigious Center for Advancement of Leadership Skills program for legislators from the South. She received her BA in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and is pursuing a master’s in public policy and administration from Jackson State University. Her most important title is wife to Andra and mother to her three sons. She and her family live in West Jackson. They are members of Greater Mt. Bethel Church of Christ Holiness USA, under the leadership of Bishop Glake Hill. Rep. Summers’ favorite scripture is: And we know all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord, and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).