About Parker

I was born and raised in the town of Aurora, on the Iron Range of Minnesota.  (Yes, I’ve played hockey my entire life and Ice Fishing is indeed a sport).  My Dad was a Vietnam Vet who became a letter carrier after returning home and my Mom was a teacher, both for 30yrs.  In addition to their work, my Dad was a hockey coach and library board member and my Mom volunteered many hours (and still does) at the church.  Both of our parents stressed the value of education to my younger brother and I beginning well before we could read.

After 10th grade at Eveleth-Gilbert High School I attended Mesabi Community College for two years before leaving home to attend Wheaton College in suburban Chicago.  At Wheaton, I enrolled as a double major in Philosophy and Mathematics.  However, as the notion of “career prospects” became something about which I needed to be concerned, I narrowed my focus and graduated with a B.S. in Mathematics (class of ’00) at age 20.

Immediately after graduation, I moved to San Francisco to start my career at what was then a 70yr-old, private investment bank where I had interned the previous summer.  After obtaining a junior trading position, I was eventually promoted to Head of Trading and Underwriting and was named to the firm’s Board of Directors in 2011.  My career is summarized in a paragraph in this press release.  With the closing of our acquisition last year, I am now responsible for my new firm’s municipal underwriting activities in California and other western states.

I met my wife, Jen, about two years after graduating from Wheaton.  We have two boys, Chase (6) and Colby (4) and are very excited to be traveling to China in September to pick up our new daughter, Macey (2).  We moved to Moraga before Chase started Kindergarten.  Of all the communities in the Bay Area, we settled on Moraga because of the terrific schools and supportive, involved community.  Additionally, we felt something special about Moraga that resonated with what we loved best about the small towns in which we grew up, yet still offered full access to the richness of experience and opportunity of San Francisco.

Since moving to Moraga, we have striven to become involved in the community quickly and meaningfully.  Jen co-chaired the Moraga Junior Women’s Club’s annual spring egg hunt last spring, is on the LP PTA Executive Board this year and is the LP 1st Grade Ambassador for MEF.  I co-chaired the Dad’s club at LP and did my best to coach a sport at which I am a novice (TBall) after retiring from coaching hockey in the city after we moved.Jen and I have been deeply impressed by the support we’ve seen in the Moraga community for our schools and by the incredible number of volunteer hours given by so many.  We feel very fortunate that our children will be get to be students in the Moraga School District for the next 12 years and we are excited to be a part of the efforts to keep our schools among the very best in California.  I have a background in public finance that is profoundly boring at parties but could be a very useful asset to the Board.  Despite the phenomenal efforts of this community, our schools are going to be continually challenged by circumstances beyond our control as the State struggles to achieve a balanced budget.

I would be honored to bring my skill set to the Board and to the service of our District.

Thank you for your consideration,

Parker