Heather McGhee

Heather McGhee designs and promotes solutions to inequality in America. Over her career in public policy, Heather has crafted legislation, testified before Congress and helped shape presidential campaign platforms. Her book The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together spent 10 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was longlisted for the National Book Award and Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. The book was also adapted into a Spotify podcast by Higher Ground, the production company of Barack and Michelle Obama and into a young adult readers’ version that will be released by Random House Children’s in 2023.

An influential voice in the media and a former NBC contributor, Heather regularly appears on NBC’s Meet the Press and MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Deadline White House and All In. She has shared her opinions, writing and research in numerous outlets, including the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Politico and National Public Radio.

She is currently a Visiting Lecturer in Urban Studies at the City University of New York’s School of Labor and Urban Studies. For nearly two decades, Heather helped build the non-partisan think tank Demos, serving four years as president. She holds a B.A. in American Studies from Yale University and a J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law. Heather is the chair of the board of Color Of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, and also serves on the boards of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Open Society Foundations’ US Programs and Demos.