Meet Elizabeth

Elizabeth Bennett-Parker is the Delegate for the 5th Virginia House District.

Born in Alexandria to two Naval officers, Elizabeth is dedicated to serving her community. As the fifth member of the House of Delegates to give birth while in office (in its then 405-year history), she is deeply committed to supporting children and families, championing causes like accessible childcare, school meals for all, and affordable housing.

She has led on disability and voting rights, passing a proposed constitutional amendment to automatically restore voting rights after incarceration and strengthening voting rights protections for individuals with disabilities.
Elizabeth has also passed bills to better protect survivors of domestic violence and stalking, enact common-sense gun safety policies, and improve access to participation in government through virtual meetings and remote participation.

She serves in leadership on the House Finance and Counties, Cities & Towns Committees and is also a member of the General Laws Committee. In her first term, she passed the most bills of any Democratic freshman and has consistently ranked at the top of legislators for her percentage of bills passed.

Elizabeth has also been named a Legislative Champion by the Virginia Education Association, received a 100% score from the Virginia Sierra Club and League of Conservation Voters, and earned an A+ from ReproRising (formerly NARAL Virginia).

She previously served as the Vice Mayor of Alexandria and as the Chair of the Operation Board of the Virginia Railway Express. She was selected as one of Alexandria’s 40 under 40 in 2017. She has served on Alexandria's Community Criminal Justice Board and the Commission on Employment, as well as the boards of the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture, Agenda:Alexandria, and the United Way Regional Council for Alexandria. She is a graduate of Emerge Virginia and the Alexandria City Academy.

Elizabeth is a former co-leader of Together We Bake, a non-profit job training and personal development program for underserved women.She also understands the pressures of being a small business owner. She founded Fruitcycle, a social enterprise fighting the tragic paradox that, while one in six Americans experience food-insecurity on a daily basis, 40% of our food is thrown into landfills.

Elizabeth served as a Fulbright Fellow, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Cornell University, and earned a Master's from the University of London.

She and her husband, Stephen, live in Alexandria with their daughter, and their rescue cat, Julep and dog, Nori, thanks to the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria.