Parker Gilkesson Davis

Senior Policy Analyst, Public Benefits Justice
Policy expertise: 
Cross-Program Benefit Access
Health and Mental Health
Medicaid
Public Benefits Justice
Racial Equity
SNAP
TANF

Parker Gilkesson Davis is a senior policy analyst with CLASP’s public benefits justie team. She specializes in work support programs for people with low incomes and focuses on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Parker is a subject matter expert in social policy, benefit eligibility, human services delivery, racial equity, community partnership, and state and local policy regarding SNAP, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Medicaid. She has been quoted in TIME Magazine, New York Times, National Public Radio, The Hill, and many more. Prior to joining CLASP, Parker began her career as a human services specialist in Mecklenburg County, NC. In this role, she worked directly with people to determine their eligibility for Medicaid, TANF, and SNAP. Parker earned a Master of Public Policy degree, with a concentration in public administration, from Liberty University and a bachelor’s degree in health education, maternal and child health from Howard University. Parker believes all policies should be grounded in the wisdom and experiences of those directly impacted by them. Therefore, she has worked to co-create a community of shared learning that highly regards lived experience as necessary expertise in the quest toward equitable policy solutions. Parker is passionate about systemic change that addresses root causes to eventually eradicate poverty and inequities in the health and social welfare of our nation’s residents.