David Parker Consulting is dedicated to improving how we communicate with each other. We are working with organizations to guide them to take a compassionate approach to making a difference through creating and sustaining positive and authentically-inclusive cultures and climates. Our research-based approach leads to improvement in workplaces, schools, and communities.
Meet David
Dr. David Parker collaborates with corporate and nonprofit organizations to create and sustain communities defined by authentic inclusion.
By his own definition, authentic inclusion is an environment where the richness of ideas, backgrounds, and perspectives are respected and people are treated with an intentional sense of value. Through customized workshops, Dr. Parker gently helps participants learn about and actively build this kind of environment.
Bringing a long history of dynamic, intelligent, and expansive presence, he gladly shares his deep passion for the arts. In his workshops, he draws on his experience as an ASL (American Sign Language) interpreter to help others express feelings and new understandings. He incorporates popular music to set themes and invites movement to engage participants.
Growing up in Queens, New York, Dr. Parker was the second of five children in a family that valued religious observance. Young David was a Boy Scout who loved to sing in the choir. He attended high school with 5000 students.
He learned social responsibility and skillful listening from his hard-working mother. “We are here to listen, to hear one another’s stories,“ she would say.
Dr. Parker was also influenced by Academy-award winning actor Sidney Poitier and General Colin Powell. From their examples, he learned perseverance in the face of bias. Similarly, he was inspired by Brooklyn Dodger’s ace pitcher, Sandy Koufax, who defied and transcended stereotypes. Dr. Parker also fondly recalls Miss Linda, a neighbor who lived on the tree-lined street of his childhood. He noticed she used the name of each child passing by when asking “how are you today?” She would then require specific details beyond their first response, making it clear she wanted to know for certain how each of them felt.
Dr. Parker received his Bachelor of Science in Social Work at the State University of New York, Brockport, and his Master’s in Education from American InterContinental University. He earned his doctoral degree in Educational Leadership with a focus on cultural transformation from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His social work perspective is at the foundation of his work, his career and his life. He received the Distinguished Service Award of the National Council on Communicative Disorders. His numerous community service awards include the Richard Follett Memorial Award from the Pittsburgh Speech Hearing and Deaf Center.
Dr. Parker has toured 48 states and all the provinces of Canada performing his original play David Parker, The Pied Piper of Sign. He is also the nationally acclaimed author of the The BEST ME I Can Be book series, 32 books for emergent readers grades K – 1, addressing character traits such as respect, acceptance, generosity, friendship and cooperation.
The cornerstones of his work are faith and the pursuit of justice.
Through listening, he believes, we build respect and awareness of others and self. Dr. Parker works to improve relationships between himself and others as well as the relationships between all peoples. Filled with wonder and curiosity, he offers a uniquely hopeful approach, compassionately engaging participants with these qualities.