Heather Award

In 2004 on the occasion of Heather Booth's birthday, the Midwest Academy announced the establishment of the Heather Award. 
 
Heather BoothWith a back pay settlement of $10,000 Heather Booth founded the Midwest Academy in 1973 to train organizers for the progressive movement. As Heather moved from being a trainer at the Academy to a series of critical social change organizations and campaigns she always made room for developing new organizers.
 
Whether late at night or early morning there were and continue to be a series of organizers who look to Heather for inspiration, guidance, and hands-on, how-to help.  Each year The Heather Award goes to a woman organizer who demonstrates that she embraces the values and vision of Heather Booth and the Midwest Academy.  
 
2010 Heather Awardees:
 
 Heather McGhee, DEMOS
 
As the Director of Demos' Washington office, Heather develops and executes strategy for increasing the organization's impact on federal policy debates in Washington. Previously, she was the Deputy Policy Director, Domestic and Economic Policy, for the John Edwards for President 2008 campaign, and a Program Associate in Demos' Economic Opportunity Program.

Her writing and research on debt, financial services regulation, retirement and inequality have appeared in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Detroit Free-Press and CNN. She is the co-author of a chapter on retirement insecurity in the book Inequality Matters: The Growing Economic Divide in America and its Poisonous Consequences (New Press, 2005).

Previous Heather Awards Winners