Non-Resident Scholar
Center for Global Prosperity, Hudson Institute
Email Heidi Metcalf Little
Heidi Metcalf Little has worked extensively in both domestic and international policy arenas with a specific focus on issues of poverty and youth. She has taken a leading role developing policy, programming, philanthropic granting strategies, and public-private partnerships addressing global issues including HIV/AIDS, anti-human trafficking, and disaster relief as well as domestic issues such as foster care, workforce development and public safety.
Heidi is a senior fellow and deputy director of the Center for Global Prosperity at the Hudson Institute where she is responsible for managing the center and publishing the Index of Global Philanthropy and Remittances, the only comprehensive report of private financial flows from developed countries to the developing world. With the help of the Urban Institute, Heidi is currently overseeing the creation of a new and improved religious giving survey to ensure better data on religious organizations substantial giving to developing countries which will be featured in CGP’s 2010 Index.
As Vice President for Public Private Partnerships at Geneva Global, a global leader in international philanthropic advising, Heidi was responsible for the largest successful bid in PEPFAR’s New Partners Initiative (NPI). In her role as the NPI Chief of Party and Chair of the Investment Committees for the Tsunami Fund, the Women’s Fund and the Anti-Human Trafficking Fund, Heidi oversaw the placement of over $15M into hundreds of community based projects in over twenty countries. Heidi was the founding director of Geneva Global’s Washington office and responsible for the company’s government relations. Heidi has lived in Japan and Kenya.
Heidi’s interest in international poverty and philanthropy grew out of her domestic policy and social enterprise experience. As Policy Advisor for Public Safety to the Governor of Virginia, Heidi was responsible for creating a program to put non-violent offenders to work across the Commonwealth in response to the Parole Abolition Reform. As the Governor’s Legislative Liaison, Heidi worked closely with State Senators and Representatives throughout the implementation of Welfare Reform.
At the end of the Governor’s term, Heidi worked with a local philanthropist to found award-winning Partnership for the Future (PFF), which under her leadership, grew to be the largest privately funded work-force development and college preparatory program in the Commonwealth. PFF mobilizes businesses to hire urban youth for three consecutive summers who then match what those students save for college. The partnership also includes all of Virginia’s top private and public universities who participate in a curriculum intended to prepare students for admission and successful matriculation into selective schools. While building PFF, Heidi also served as the director of Community Relations for the Markel Corporation, overseeing their corporate philanthropy and initiating their employee giving program.
Additionally, Heidi served as Chief of Staff for the Administration of Children and Families within the US Department of Health and Human Services. Her responsibilities included operations oversight for the $50B agency, planning and policy and inter-governmental relations. She began her career at Procter & Gamble and spent a year in a research fellowship at the Ethics & Public Policy Center.
