By GREGORY ZELLER //
A leading Long Island social-justice advocacy organization has a new leader.
The Board of Directors at Syosset-based ERASE Racism announced Monday that attorney Laura Harding – currently director of strategic initiatives in K-12 education and co-chairwoman of the Racial Justice & Equity Team in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education in Washington – will succeed current president Elaine Gross.
Gross, who’s led the nonprofit 501(c)3 since its 2001 launch, will become president emeritus when she steps down in September, and stay on as an ERASE Racism consultant. The founding president informed the board last year of her intentions to step aside after more than two decades at the helm.
Harding – who graduated from Adelphi University with a social work bachelor’s degree before earning a master’s in social service administration from the University of Chicago and a JD from the Howard University School of Law – will bring a wide range of public-administration experience to the president’s office.
The former assistant director of the District of Columbia Public Schools’ Office of Federal Programs has also served as a staff attorney with the nonprofit Legal Services NYC, where she focused on tenants’ rights, and the New York City Police Department, where she concentrated on risk mitigation.
Harding has also logged significant time with the New York City Department of Education, including separate stints as a senior policy analyst and the director of strategic development.
While serving in the DC deputy mayor’s office, Harding has also worked part-time as a training facilitator with Adelphi University’s Diversity Certificate Partnership Program – keeping her up to speed on Long Island-centric diversity, equity and inclusion issues.
Elaine Gross: Tough act to follow.
All told, the president-elect brings an ideal “breadth of talent and experience” to ERASE Racism, according to Board of Directors Co-chairwoman Kalpana Bhandarkar.
“Her expertise in public-education policy and programs centered on equity, her experience as an attorney focused on tenants’ rights and her years of stakeholder engagement make her uniquely qualified to be in this important role,” Bhandarkar said Monday. “She threads compassion through her work, and we are confident she will serve as a dynamic and effective leader.”
She certainly succeeds a dynamic and effective leader. Gross shaped ERASE Racism into a potent civil rights organization over her 21-year leadership, cultivating effective programs focused on inclusive housing, workforce training and education equity – including a scathing report released in May that detailed “unequal resources” allotted to Long Island school districts with significant non-White populations.
Gross said she found Harding’s appointment “thrilling” and said she was “delighted that Laura Harding will be …setting the course for ERASE Racism going forward.”
Harding, meanwhile, said she was “excited by the opportunity to lead ERASE Racism and build on the legendary accomplishments of Elaine Gross.”
“These are challenging times in America for racial justice and equity,” the president-elect added. “ERASE Racism’s history and record of achievement make it a remarkable vehicle that can drive Long Island, New York and the nation forward.”
