Heather  C. McGhee joined Demos in 2002, serving as president from 2014 through June 2018. McGhee is now a Distinguished Senior Fellow, and is writing a book to be published in 2019 about the costs of racism in America. She serves as a contributor to NBC News, appearing on shows such as Meet the Press. Her work has appeared in numerous outlets, including The New York Times, The Nation, and The Hill. She has received New York University’s McSilver Award for Leaders in the Fight Against Poverty, and Citizen Action of New York’s Progressive Leadership Award.

McGhee’s efforts at Demos have led to: landmark consumer protections to rein in credit card abuses and save consumers over $50 billion in fees; rewriting operational policies at financial institutions; billions in wage increases; four million low-income voters registered at DMVs and public agencies; and pro-democracy reforms, such as public campaign financing, same-day registration, and automatic voter registration, won in a dozen states.

McGhee serves on the boards of the Center for Working Families, Consumer Reports and Indivisible. 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.