De'Shawn Wright began his career in public education as a Teach for America corps member in 1998, teaching middle school grades in New York City. During this time, he worked as both a classroom teacher and program coordinator, managing the implementation of a model technology program in Community School District Six in Washington Heights. Upon completing his fourth year as an educator, Wright worked in the New York City Mayor's Office of Operations under the Bloomberg Administration as a policy analyst, overseeing the operations, programs, and services of city agencies within the Business Affairs Unit.

Wright returned to the New York City Department of Education in 2003 as the program manager for school and corporate partnerships in the Office of Strategic Partnerships, a newly created team led by Caroline Kennedy to secure financial and human resources from the private sector to support public school initiatives. He later worked in the Office of New Schools as an associate director responsible for managing and supporting the creation of new schools in Manhattan and the South Bronx, and later as policy director where he was responsible for the sustainability and support of new schools citywide. Wright later joined the Office of the Chancellor, where he worked as a project manager/policy advisor, focusing on the DOE's comprehensive reform initiative to give principals enhanced authority over instruction, school management, and budgetary decisions in exchange for greater accountability for student performance.

Wright joined the senior leadership team for newly elected Newark Mayor Cory Booker in August 2006. He initially served as the City's education advisor before becoming Chief Policy Advisor to the Mayor, where he oversaw initiatives related to education, youth development, child and family well-being, and economic empowerment. Wright was also a founding partner of the Newark Charter School Fund, an education investment fund supported by the Gates, Walton, Fisher, and Robertson Foundations.

In January 2011, newly-elected Mayor Vincent Gray appointed Wright to serve as Deputy Mayor for Education in Washington, DC where he is responsible for the creation and implementation of a citywide birth to 24 strategy that includes early education, K-12, post-secondary education and workforce development. In this capacity, Wright plans, coordinates and supervises all public education initiatives and activities related to DC Public Schools, the Office of State Superintendent for Education, the Public Charter School Board, the Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization and the University of DC/DC Community College.

Wright attended James Madison University as an undergrad and earned a Master in Public Administration degree from New York University's Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service in 2002. He currently serves on the board of directors for Friends of the Island Academy in New York City, an organization dedicated to providing job training, counseling, education, mentoring, and leadership development to formerly incarcerated youth.