Heather Harding is a servant leader who believes deeply in the power of public education, values developing people to their highest potential, prioritizes telling a data-informed story to inform policy & practice. She most recently led the Campaign for our Shared Future, an effort to defend and protect K12 public education from extremist political attacks. Currently serving as Executive in Residence at Education Leaders of Color (EdLoC), Dr. Harding has spent her 25+ year career focused on the intersection between access to a quality K12 education and racial equity. A mother of two children, her work has spanned non-profit management, teaching across secondary and postsecondary institutions, empirical research, philanthropy, and advocacy efforts. Essential to her professional pursuits are the opportunity to tell honest, untold stories and to inspire action by strengthening relationships and building trust.

Before earning master’s and doctoral degrees from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Heather taught middle school and high school in underserved communities in the rural South with Teach for America. Since then, her mission has been to improve education opportunities for all children, regardless of their class, color, or neighborhood. She had an opportunity to do this while serving as Teach for America’s Senior Vice President of Community Partnerships; as the founding Executive Director of EdCORE, a DC-focused education research consortium to improve outcomes for the students of the nation's capital; and in senior philanthropic leadership roles at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and has never abandoned her love of reporting, writing, and collecting data to solve problems.