On September 4th, 2018, Boston City Council Member and ‘92 Parker grad Ayanna Pressley was elected Democratic nominee for the U.S House of Representatives. Pressley won by a margin of 59% – 41%, becoming the Democratic nominee for the House in Massachusetts 7th congressional district.

If Pressley wins her spot in Congress at the November 6th midterms, she will become the first African-American to serve Massachusetts as a U.S. Representative. Pressley is not facing a Republican challenger in her district, which will give her the victory in November as long as she continues to run unopposed. Pressley defeated 10 time incumbent Mike Capuano in the Democratic primary.

Pressley was born in 1974 on the Northside of Chicago and went to Francis Parker from JK through 12th grade. At Parker, Presley was a cheerleader, active debater, and was elected president of student government. By her senior year, she was named “most likely to be mayor of Chicago.”

Friend of Pressley and fellow ‘92 grad Noah Furhman reflected on presence and impact at Parker. “Ayanna was always very friendly,” Furhman said, “and found herself the natural leader in many of the things she was a part of at Parker. She was very involved in everything she did, and was also very caring towards other people.”

After graduating Parker, Pressley enrolled in Boston University, and at college she was elected student body president and a student senator as well. From there, Pressley worked as an intern for Representative Joseph P. Kennedy for two years in college.

Following her four years and college, Pressley had to work several jobs thereafter to pay the bills and help support her mother, Pressley was hired as a staffer for Senator John Kerry, rising to the position of political director before leaving Washington to run for and become elected as the first African-American woman of the Boston City Council.

Pressley was continuously elected to her position on city council, and after over a decade of serve, decided that she wanted to run for Congress and began campaigning for the 2018 election. Amid the chaos on the day of the primary, Pressley took time out of the day to visit her mother’s gravestone for a short time of reflection.

Although it was many years ago, Parker had been an important haven and second home for her. “I had so much dysfunction and drama and trauma in my life,” Pressley said to Parker students at an MX in 2013. “Parker was this sanctuary, this refuge, this soft place for me to land.”