Harding is a lifelong Cantabrigian and Cambridge Rindge & Latin School graduate with a degree from Fitchburg State College. In addition to his work on the School Committee, he runs the Men of Color Health Initiative, is a program consultant to the job training program CambridgeWorks and is president of the Port Life Foundation.

He began his public service as an intern at Joe Kennedy’s Citizen’s Energy, then served as director of constituent services for state Sen. Steven Tolman and as chairman of the Ward 2 Democratic Committee. He has served on the board of the Young People’s Project and of the Community Arts Center. As a founder of the Port Action Group, a neighborhood group focused on violence prevention, he led the effort to secure funding and institute a streetworker in Area IV to help connect felons with services and resources. He has co-chaired the Kids Council and brought his leadership to the Neighborhood Safety Task Force’s Employment Sub-Committee.

He is a recipient of the NAACP Education Excellence Award and the Cambridge Peace and Justice Award. He is a member of the Cambridge Police Commissioner’s Community Advisory Board and has organized and facilitated two communitywide conversations in the area of justice: “Civil Rights: Policing, Discretion and Race” and “Not Guilty,” a forum that examined police conduct in the Eurie Stamps and D.J. Henry incidents.

As a School Committee member, he has served as vice chairman and co-chaired the Budget and Contract Negotiations committees. His daughter is now at CRLS.

Harding’s top three priorities:

Closing the achievement gap and stablishing high academic standards beyond MCAS.

Increasing parental involvement.

Supporting students with special needs and ensuring excellent instruction in every classroom.