Markus Batchelor is a native Washingtonian, advocate and activist who has spent his career in government, non-profit and as an elected leader working to close deep divides and advocate for our most vulnerable neighbors and disinvested communities.​

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Markus served as the Ward 8 Representative and Vice President of the State Board of Education from 2017 through 2021. He is the youngest-ever elected member of the board, where he represented over 16,000 K-12 students across 41 school communities after being elected in 2016 at age 23. Representing one of DC’s most historically under-served communities, he led on efforts focused on equity and closing the opportunity gap. He also served as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, where he represented residents in the Congress Heights and Washington Highlands communities. In 2020, he was a candidate for At-Large member of the Council of the District of Columbia.

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Markus is an alumnus and former trainer at the Marion Barry Youth Leadership Institute (MBYLI), where he worked with DC teens on personal development, civic engagement, college readiness, and employ-ability skills. He has also served as a Ward 8 Liaison in the Mayor’s Office of Community Relations and Services and on the staff of the Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative, a community-based non-profit dedicated to the prevention of child abuse and neglect in Ward 8.

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Markus currently works at People for the American Way’s Young Elected Officials Network, where he helps to support over 1300 elected progressive leaders from across the country at all levels of government. He also served as the President of the Ward 8 Democrats and sat on DC’s Democratic State Committee as National Committeeman for the DC Young Democrats. He's been a consistent champion for progressive causes such as One Fair Wage, paid family leave, criminal justice reform, and getting big money out of politics.

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Markus has been honored as Washington City Paper's Best of DC (2017), WPGC 95.5 Top 30 Under 30 (2017), and Afro Newspaper's Activists Under 35 (2020).