Heather McGhee JD

Heather designs and promotes solutions to inequality in America. Over her career in public policy, she 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. Heather is an educator, serving currently as 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 and do" tank Demos, serving four years as president. She regularly appears on NBC’s Meet the Press and MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Deadline White House, and All In. Her 2020 TED talk is entitled “Racism Has a Cost for Everyone.”