Walker to keynote 2026 ES Christian Businessman’s Annual Prayer Breakfast

Jamar K. Walker, a United States District Judge in the Norfolk Division of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, will be the keynote speaker for the annual Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, March 19, at 8 a.m. at the Exmore Moose Lodge in Belle Haven. The event is sponsored by the Eastern Shore Christian Businessmen’s Association to promote unity among elected leaders and the highest ethical standards in our community.

Local officials, law enforcement officers, and pastors will be in attendance.

Vocal entertainment will be provided by Ginny McMath, an Eastern Shore native who has acted on TV shows and performed at cabaret shows and off-Broadway in New York City as well being featured in cruise ship entertainment.

Non-members can attend for $15 a person. Seating is limited; RSVP by emailing or texting ESCBA president Rhudy Naylor at [email protected] or 757-710-9638. Payment can be made at the door.

Judge Walker was raised in Melfa and is a 2004 graduate of Nandua High School. At Nandua, Judge Walker was president of his class for all four years, president of the BETA Club, state runner-up and captain of the Nandua High School forensic team and a member of the baseball team. He was also a recipient of the Eastern Shore News leadership scholarship given annually on the Shore.

Judge Walker received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. At U.Va, he was a key member of the university’s Mock Trial team that defeated Harvard to win the national championship in 2006 and then won a second national title in 2007.

Following graduation, he began his legal career by serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Raymond A. Jackson, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Upon completion of his clerkship, Judge Walker became a litigation associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Covington & Burling LLP, where his practice focused primarily on products liability and insurance litigation. In 2015, Judge Walker joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and was assigned to the Alexandria Division’s Financial Crimes and Public Corruption Unit. He subsequently served as the unit’s deputy chief and acting chief. While at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Judge Walker sat on the office-wide Diversity Committee; co-founded the Committee on Race, Policing, and Prosecution; and worked as the Alexandria Division’s Hate Crimes Coordinator.

During his time as a prosecutor, Judge Walker received five FBI Service Awards for work in public corruption, wire fraud, and bank fraud cases. In 2020, he was among the National LGBT+ Bar Association’s 40 Under 40 and the National Association of Black Lawyers’ 40 Under 40.

Judge Walker is the 2023 recipient of the University of Virginia School of Law Lambda Law Alliance’s Alvarez-Coughlin Award, which recognizes extraordinary efforts on behalf of the LGBTQ community. Judge Walker is the first openly LGBTQ+ federal judge in Virginia and the second openly gay Black male Article III judge in the United States.

Judge Walker is the son of Brenda and Rev. Willie L. White Sr.