Heather Higginbottom is counselor to Secretary of State John Kerry, advising him on policy, personnel, and management issues.
Prior to joining the State Department, Ms. Higginbottom served as Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and as Counselor to the Director of OMB.
Ms. Higginbottom served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council from January 2009 to January 2011. In that role, she advised the President on a range of education, immigration, and economic development issues – including helping to design the Race to the Top and Promise Neighborhood programs.
Ms. Higginbottom began working for then-Senator Obama in 2007, when she served as Policy Director for the President’s campaign and supervised all aspects of policy development.
From 1999 to 2007, Ms. Higginbottom worked for then-Senator John Kerry. She began on his Senate staff as Legislative Assistant handling domestic policy, eventually serving as his Legislative Director. She also served as the Deputy National Policy Director for the Kerry-Edwards Presidential Campaign during the primary and general elections.
After the 2004 campaign, she founded and served as Executive Director of the American Security Project, a national security think tank.
Ms. Higginbottom began her career at Communities In Schools, a national non-profit organization dedicated to keeping young people from dropping out of school.
Ms. Higginbottom holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Rochester and a Masters degree in Public Policy from the George Washington University.
