Stephen Harding

Background

About Stephen Harding

Repurposed Since 2014 I've reached What Gail Sheehy called the "Age of Integrity." She characterized it as the sage seventies, where one still grows the brain, takes risks, and gives back. As a friend and former Dean once told me, you're fortunate. You're doing what you do best. You're a teacher and a writer. In application, I'm an instructor of civic culture, political history, and comparative governance. In essence, I've returned to my academic roots. Even with stints on the boards of nonprofits, I balance life with domestic and international travel. So, the seat belt sign is off. I'm free to move about the cabin. I set the schedule, not the demands of a career nor the standards, judgments, and expectations of others. My Former Professional Self I accumulated more than thirty-eight years of public (24) and private (14) sector experience in municipal management, organizational design, housing, economic development, real estate development, urban planning, and public finance. As a city manager, consultant, organizational designer, developer, or president of a municipal economic development corporation, I served 58 public and private sector organizations. I negotiated and developed public financing structures, prepared real estate development feasibility studies, and provided project management services to more than $4 billion in industrial, commercial, and residential development projects. In addition, I developed municipal organizational structures, municipal financial workouts, comprehensive site-specific fiscal/economic impact reports, and market and community-based strategic economic development plans for multiple governmental agencies. I performed nine interim city manager/department head assignments and was a lead member of the executive management teams that set up two newly incorporated California cities. Past Experience in the Classroom My time at the lectern of 14 years ran along similar lines to my day job. Overlapping the last 11 years of my varying roles in local governance, I served as an adjunct instructor in master's degree programs in public policy, administration, and real estate development. In 55 courses, I facilitated the education of more than post-graduate students at four universities. The research necessities of college instruction added to my own foundational knowledge of government while keeping current with contemporary American political, cultural, and socio-economic thought. I retired from this area of instruction in 2018 in order to focus on my real academic interests in political history.