Plenary Speaker

2024: Ms. Hope Herron

Hope Herron is an Associate Director at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a bilateral United States foreign aid agency, where she oversees the environmental and social performance of multi-million-dollar investments in support of MCC’s fight against global poverty. MCC provides time-limited grants (average size of $340 million) to the world’s poorest countries that are committed to just and democratic governance, economic freedom and investing in their populations. MCC’s investments in core infrastructure and policy and institutional reforms are key interventions that are improving the lives of nearly 270 million people across 46 countries and five continents. Ms. Herron helped to develop the MCC’s new Climate Change Strategy and manages its climate change contract to implement the strategy. She is co-leading MCC’s work on the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE) and represents the Agency on multiple National Security Council climate related meetings and workstream efforts. Ms. Herron is a representative on the Agency’s Executive Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Council, where she chairs the Recruitment Working Group to expand employment opportunities for underserved communities.

Prior to joining MCC, Ms. Herron led the resilient infrastructure practice for Tetra Tech, a global provider of consulting and engineering services. She provided strategic guidance to Tetra Tech’s corporate initiatives and project management and technical expertise to a wide range of international development agencies and multi-lateral clients. As the senior thought-leader for resilient infrastructure, Ms. Herron led many of the company’s innovative flagship climate change risk assessment and adaptation projects.

Ms. Herron received a B.A. degree in English with a minor in History from The University of Southern Mississippi, a Master’s of Natural Resource Studies degree from the University of Queensland, Australia, and a Master’s in International Communication degree from American University in Washington, D.C. She currently lives outside of Washington, D.C. with her wife, young son, and poorly trained dog. Ms. Herron is excited to return “home” to the USM campus. She proudly continued her family’s legacy of attending USM, which began with her grandfather’s attendance shortly after the school was founded. Her father was an All-American football player, her mother was a professor and Director of the Center for Science and Math Education, and all three of her siblings attended USM. While at USM, Hope was a member of the Honors College, captain of the women’s soccer team, and Vice President of the Student Athletic Council.