Zerlina Maxwell is a political analyst, speaker, and contributing writer lives in New York City. She is a Director of Progressive Programming for SiriusXM.

Zerlina attended Tufts University and graduated in 2003 with a degree in International Relations and Affairs. She later earned her J.D. from Rutgers School of Law.

Zerlina worked as a paralegal for several years in the 2000s.

In 2016, she became a Contributing Writer for Essence magazine. Active in political elections, Zerlina was the Director of Progressive Media for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Since 2009, she worked as a Political Analyst and Freelance Writer for various online publications. In addition, she is the Director of Progressive Programming for SiriusXM.

In October 2011, Zerlina wrote an article in The Root bringing light to the racial divide in the movement to end rape culture. In the article, she goes into detail about how not all oppression is the same and that white woman should be more aware of the language they use in protesting. An example Zerlina cities is a sign a white woman was holding said: "Woman Is the Nigger of the World" which immediately brought a backlash from the feminist community.