Gallaudet University | Office of the President
Dear Campus Community:

I am pleased to announce that Heather Harker has accepted the position as Chief of Staff in the Office of the President. She officially begins working at Gallaudet on May 31, 2016, but will be on campus at the May Board of Trustees meeting and Commencement as part of the transition into the role.

Harker served as a member of the Gallaudet University Board of Trustees from 2009 to April 2016 when she resigned to consider several career opportunities, including the Chief of Staff position. Heather was chair of the Board from October 2014 to April 2016 and was known as a strategic thinker, facilitator, and communicator who provided solid leadership.

Professionally, Harker was most recently director of programs at Third Sector New England (TSNE), which focuses on building power, knowledge, and effectiveness of nonprofit organizations. Prior to her 15 years with TSNE, Harker was a teaching fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and received an award for teaching excellence.

Harker’s previous positions include being assistant director of the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, focusing on policy development, advocacy, and program development. During that time, she participated in the three-year Kellogg International Leadership Program which brought together 60 leaders and community change makers from the United States, southern Africa, and Latin America.

Harker has also been a fellow with Discovering Deaf Worlds which was focused on cross-cultural learning and capacity building in the Philippines. She has served on the boards of The Learning Center for the Deaf and DEAF, Inc. An Echoing Green fellowship for social entrepreneurship also took her to Malaysia to work with the deaf community to establish a public health workshop series, English as a Second Language programs, a summer youth leadership camp, and gave her the opportunity to teach in schools for deaf students.

Harker earned her undergraduate degree in International Relations from Brown University and a master of public administration degree from Harvard University.

Please join me in congratulating Ms. Harker on her new role at the University.

Yours truly,

Roberta J. Cordano
President

College Hall dot 800 Florida Avenue, NE  dot Washington, DC 20002-3695
202-651-5505 dot president@gallaudet.edu dot president.gallaudet.edu