Jackson Free Press

Civil justice, public relations and communications are Zakiya Summers' life. The 33-year-old Houston, Texas, native is the director of communications for the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi, which exists to promote and defend the civil liberties for all Mississippians in equality, criminal justice and advocacy. Hinds County Supervisor Peggy Hobson-Calhoun appointed Summers last March to serve as the Hinds County election commissioner for District 3, but she lost her re-election to finish the term in November to Jermal Clark, which disappointed her, but didn't discourage her.

Summers says she fell in love with public relations in 2008 and has worked in it in some form since then. She has always been involved in justice work, election protection, civil justices, voting protections and voter rights. All her public-relations work has been with nonprofit organizations including the Jackson Medical Mall Foundation and One Voice, the sister organization to the NAACP.

"I've been ingrained in civil rights and election protection since working with the NAACP," she says, "but I'm still getting used this whole other world of civil justice."

A graduate of the University of Missouri at Columbia, Summers earned her bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism in 2005. She was a news producer for Mizzou's NBC affiliate, KOMU, throughout college as well as a producer for the 5 a.m. news at WLBT in Jackson for three years.

"I've always loved producing, but you have to be in the right market," she says.

Summers is involved with different ventures in various areas of communication. She owns her own corporate event-planning company, Lady Godiva Productions, and is a board member for the Mississippi Sickle Cell Foundation. She is also a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. and the secretary for the Jayne Avenue Neighborhood Association, which recently established a Little Free Library where kids can take a free book and leave one in its place. She has organized special events all over the country, most recently the Mississippi Women's Economic Security Policy Summit featuring Anita Hill this past October at the Jackson Convention Complex. "I like that I can help somebody, use my creativity and use my skill at the same time," she says.

Now, she's settling into her new position at the ACLU and spending time with her newborn son, 2-month-old Mathis Harlee. She also has two older sons, Marvin, 8, and Mason, 5. This past September, she married her husband, Andra Harlee, and says that her children are one of her biggest motivators. "I work so hard because I want my children to see that hard work pays off," she says. "I want them to see that a black woman can do it all and do it well."