Heather Harding is a servant leader who believes deeply in the power of public education, values developing people to their highest potential, and prioritizes telling a data-informed story to inform policy and practice. Prior to joining The NEA Foundation, she most recently served as Executive in Residence at Education Leaders of Color (EdLoC) after leading the Campaign for our Shared Future, an effort to defend and protect K12 public education from extremist political attacks, from 2022-2024. Dr. Harding has spent her 30+ year career focused on the intersection between access to a quality K12 education and racial equity. 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 through the Teach for America program. A proud enrolled member of the Herring Pond Wampanoag tribe, she lives with her two children in the District of Columbia.
