Jaqueline N. Tucker Named City of Alexandria’s First Race and Social Equity Officer

ALEXANDRIA, VA – Jaqueline N. Tucker has been appointed the first Race and Social Equity Officer for the City of Alexandria, effective February 10, 2020.

Tucker will direct the City government’s race and social equity programs, and work to build a framework to ensure policy decisions advance race and social equity for all Alexandria residents. She will collaborate with City departments, employees, community members and other stakeholders to help Alexandria become a more equitable community.

“Jaqueline is an innovative, compassionate, inclusive leader,” said Jinks. “Through her dedication to civic engagement, law and policy, and her experience working with all levels of government, she has demonstrated the mindset and skills integral to helping our community make progress toward meaningful equity.”

Tucker, a former educator who witnessed the injustices of systemic inequity firsthand in her Houston, Texas classroom, brings extensive experience to Alexandria. She served as the first East Region Project Manager for the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE), a national network of governments working to achieve racial equity and advance opportunities for all. The City of Alexandria joined GARE in February 2019.

At GARE, Tucker developed relationships with government leaders and staff to analyze policies and practices through a racial equity lens. She also provided technical assistance and coaching to local, state and regional governments from Virginia to Maine, on capacity-building mechanisms for policy intervention, organizational transformation and strategy development on the issue of race and social equity. Tucker was instrumental in planning and convening the first-ever, metropolitan Washington, D.C. regional learning cohort of local government staff to advance racial equity and opportunities for all, a partnership with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and GARE.

Before her tenure with GARE, Tucker served as the Leadership for Educational Equity Fellow and interim Senior Federal Relations Associate for the Council of Chief State School Officers. She helped interpret federal education laws and lay the foundation for educational equity nationwide by providing special contributions to Leading for Equity: Opportunities for State Education Chiefs, a report that outlines practical steps for state education chiefs.

Tucker, a Texas bar-certified attorney, comes to Alexandria with previous experience as a legal analyst with Deloitte and Touche, a Freedom of Information attorney with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a community organizer with Families Empowered, and an aide to several members of the U.S. Congress. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Butler University and a Juris Doctor from the Howard University School of Law.