Zakiyah Ansari is the Advocacy Director of the New York State Alliance for Quality Education (AQE), the leading statewide organization that has been fighting for educational equity for the last decade. Zakiyah was one of the few parent advocates appointed to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Transition Committee. Zakiyah resides in the East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. She is also the mother of eight children and grandmother of 3. Zakiyah has been invited to speak before parents, educators, elected officials, and administrators all across the country about the importance of organizing parents and communities in schools. She is one of the parent voices in the film, Parent Power, produced by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform. Zakiyah is one of the co-initiators on a recently formed national grassroots movement, “Journey for Justice,” an emerging alliance currently composed of grassroots community-based organizations from over 20 cities across the United States representing constituencies of youth, parents, and inter-generational organizations who have been impacted by the closing, turnaround, and charter expansion of schools in communities of color. Zakiyah was featured in August 2014 issue of Essence magazine “Moms On the Front Lines.” She also appeared in January 2013 on MSNBC’s weekly national program, Melissa Harris-Perry.
