Jane Parker is proud to serve Monterey County as the Fourth District County Supervisor.

Her priorities as Supervisor include responsible land-use policy, equitable healthcare access and high quality healthcare services, water and mass transit solutions, increased accountability and customer service for County services, and an emphasis on preventive policy as it pertains to social and law enforcement issues.

In her first two years as County Supervisor Jane is especially proud that her leadership has resulted in fundamental changes in the culture of County government. Board Agenda packets are now posted online demonstrating an expectation of transparency in staff recommendations to the Board. The Board conducted and established an ongoing process for formal performance evaluations of the Chief Administrative Officer and other direct reports for the first time ever. A portion of District 4 (Salinas) was selected as one of 8 cities by the White House to participate in a National Forum on Violence Prevention brining much needed federal resources to bear. The County is now one of four in the state to claim a progressive Lactation Accommodation policy for its employees. For the first time in memory the Board rejected two inappropriate subdivisions in North County. These are just a few of Jane’s many successes achieved in a relatively short period of time. Jane has made it a point to understand the perspectives and priorities of her colleagues and work with them to achieve common goals.

Jane grew up in Monterey, graduated from Monterey High School, attended UC Santa Cruz, earned her Bachelor's degree in International Economics from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and a Grand Diplome de Cuisine from La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine in Paris.

Prior to her election, Jane has worked as Associate Director of the ACTION Council of Monterey County addressing unmet needs in the county and improving the quality of life for residents through the pursuit of economic and social justice.  At the ACTION Council Jane worked diligently to develop affordable housing solutions, to re-design the Child Welfare System working with the County's Department of Social and Employment Services, and to develop a strong financial base of support for Girls Incorporated of the Central Coast.

Before joining the ACTION Council, Jane served for over 5 years as Vice President of Development for Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, the largest Planned Parenthood in the country, raising over $5 million annually to support essential family, health, reproductive education counseling and medical services.

Prior to her time at Planned Parenthood, Jane founded and managed a healthy meal preparation service designed to serve working families and homebound seniors. As a former local small business owner, Jane understands of the importance of neighborhood-serving businesses.

Jane was elected to serve on the Monterey Peninsula College Board of Trustees from 1999-2003 where she proved to be an effective advocate for quality education -- fighting unfair education cuts proposed by Sacramento, and leading efforts to attract and retain quality faculty and teaching staff.  Under her watch, MPC continued to provide outstanding, affordable education protecting student services despite the state budget crisis. As Chair, Jane brought more responsible and accountable leadership to the Board of Trustees. Jane continues to support MPC as a member of the Presidents Circle of the Monterey Peninsula College Foundation Board of Directors.

Jane has also served as President of the Charitable Council of Monterey; Volunteer Director for the Carmel Bach Festival; Board President of the Unitarian Universalist Church; on the Executive Committee of the Democratic Club of the Monterey Peninsula; and a President of the MPC Foundation Board of Directors. She organized county-wide community engagement summits in 1997 and 2007, and served on the Monterey County Social Services Commission from 1994-2000 - presiding as chair for two years.

A product of Monterey public schools, Jane inherited a love of education from her father, Brad, who was the education beat reporter for the Monterey Herald.  Jane's mother, Polly, was a local community activist and writer who inspired Jane to public service.