Washington State Representative David Hackney on stewarding a great education

The Invisible Men

In this episode, Ian and Nique are joined by David Hackney — a Washington State Representative, Harvard Law School and Harvard Kennedy School graduate, and former attorney for the Department of Justice. Two pivotal moments during David’s freshman year at Cornell changed his outlook on education inspired him to steward the opportunities in front of him. The first was advice from a recent graduate who had thrived socially on Cornell’s campus but was only able to find a job as an Assistant Manager at Burger King because he did not apply himself academically: don’t take a Cornell education for granted. The second was a mentorship with an older student who taught David how to balance academic pursuit with strong social connections. These experiences inspired David to work tirelessly to pursue a path that ultimately led him to Harvard Law School and an early career as an attorney for the Department of Justice. The capstone of David’s career was his recent election to the Washington State House of Representatives — where he currently serves the men and women of south King County.

Later, David shares the work he is doing to reform policing in Washington state and his vision for a renewed relationship between police and the communities they serve. David believes that police have lost the trust of communities with high rates of crime. Recognizing that good policing cannot happen without the consent of a community, David believes there are steps policymakers must take to reform their methods of contact with community members and build trusting relationships. However, he also argues that calls to “defund” the police are ineffective and unhelpful. Per David, we need more and better policing, not less. Tune in to the full episode to learn more about David’s story and hear his words of advice for “Darryl.”