Marquis Hawkins has a lengthy record of fighting for the progressive agenda across Southern Dallas and beyond. Raised in the Dallas area, Marquis knew early on he wanted to dedicate his life to closing the opportunity gap for children, particularly in communities like his own in Oak Cliff.

He has worked tirelessly to ensure the doors of opportunity swing open for scores of kids whose fate in life is determined by zip code. Marquis dove into the education policy arena headfirst when he interned for Dallas Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson through the Congressional Black Caucus Internship program. After college, he worked for Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert as a speechwriter intern and served as the District Director and Legislative Aide to Texas State Representative Barbara Mallory Caraway.

While in college, he put his bevy of policy knowledge to work as leader of a host of leadership positions including President of the Morehouse College NAACP, Morehouse College Elections Chair, the Vice President of Operations for the Graduate and Professional Students Assembly at Cornell, the Managing Editor of the Cornell Policy Review and was the Cornell fellow to the Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress.

Aside from his collegiate accomplishments, Marquis belongs to many national community organizations including NAACP, Front Line Leaders Academy Alumni Association, and was a 2007 PPIA Fellow. Marquis was a 2012-2013 member of the Board of Directors for the National Forum for Black Public Administrators. In Dallas, he currently serves on the boards of CitySquare, the OakCliff YMCA. Additionally, he was a 2016 candidate for the Dallas ISD School Board, endorsed by the Dallas Morning News.

Professionally, Marquis started his career in the classroom as a Corps Member in Teach For America Houston and since has held positions at Education Pioneers, Dallas ISD, Omni Hotels & Resorts, Harwood International, and American Airlines. Currently, he serves as a State & Local Affairs Advisor for Southwest Airlines where he manages a lobbying portfolio of 14 states.

Marquis earned a Bachelors in Political Science from Morehouse College, a Master in Public Administration from Cornell University, and has completed post-baccalaureate work at the University of Chicago.