Amber W. Harding is the Executive Director at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. Prior to becoming the Executive Director, Ms, Harding was a Steptoe & Johnson Equal Justice Works Fellow, a staff attorney, and then the Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Legal Clinic. Ms. Harding received a law degree from Georgetown University and a degree in anthropology from the University of Arizona. Through individual representation and systemic campaigns, she has advocated for the civil and legal rights of people experiencing homelessness; equal access to emergency shelter and housing: disability-rights compliance (particularly in emergency shelters); deeply affordable housing; right to shelter in severe weather; and removing barriers to housing. In 2007, she received the Citizen Advocate award from the DC Center for Independent Living. In 2011, her work on improving the accessibility of emergency shelters was cited as a “particularly noteworthy” example of a successful reform campaign by the Shriver Center’s Federal Practice Manual for Legal Aid Attorneys. In 2013, she received the Excellence in Advocacy, State Issue Campaign award from Professional Women in Advocacy and recognition for “deep commitment to and outstanding legal support of Washington D.C.’s homeless” from Shelter, Housing and Respectful Change (SHARC). In 2021, she received the Humanitarian Spirit Award for Advocacy from The National Center for Children and Families. She is on the steering committee of the Way Home Campaign and on the board of ACLU-DC and First Shift Justice Project.
