Heidi Gerbracht is a policy and local government expert and strategist with nearly two decades experience working on equity and justice using an intersectional approach. Her career has involved the full spectrum of democracy, from recruitment to training to elections to policy and programs.
She currently serves as the Director of the Progressive Governance Academy (PGA), a program that builds and develops the leadership and governance skills of state and local elected officials across the country. PGA is a collaborative effort by re:power Fund, State Innovation Exchange (SiX) and Local Progress Impact Lab. Previously, she founded and directed the nonprofit consultancy Equity Agenda, which worked with city governments and mission-aligned nonprofits across the country. Equity Agenda partnered with Mayors Innovation Project to launch the Women Mayors Network, which provided resources and support to nearly 200 diverse women mayors from cities of every size across the country. She also developed, launched, and managed a successful national environmental health program called Bright Cities and was a public servant at the City of Austin in various capacities for nearly a decade, where she spearheaded successful passage and implementation of several progressive policies that were the first of their kind nationally.
She is a past Board Chair of Annie’s List, an organization that recruits, trains, and elects progressive women who support abortion rights at the state and local level in Texas, and a past Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of URGE: Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity, a state-driven national organization that builds power and sustains a young people’s movement for reproductive justice by centering the leadership of young people of color who are women, queer, trans, nonbinary, and people of low-income.
Heidi holds a Masters in Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs and a B.A. in International Relations from American University's School of International Service. She lives in Austin Texas.