Heather A. Hathaway Miranda

Heather A. Hathaway Miranda, M.A. is a highly articulate bilingual, bicultural Latina and an award-winning, international speaker with over 25 years of multidisciplinary experience as a researcher and educator specializing in a range of academic subjects intersecting race, ethnicity, class, gender, and disparity. Heather is fierce when it comes to injustice.

As a scholar-activist, TRHT Greater Chicago-trained racial healing practitioner, and consultant through Hathaway Miranda LLC, her passion is to advocate for underserved communities by raising consciousness about oppressive issues, practices, and systems locally, nationally, and internationally. She has worked professionally with issues of diversity & inclusion and has utilized Spanish for over 3 decades from research to high school and university classrooms to community work.

Heather is the founder and owner of Hathaway Miranda LLC, through which she offers keynote speaking, workshop facilitation, consulting, coaching, teaching, and racial healing. She aims to be a compassionate servant leader. Some of her clients/partnerships include the American Medical Association, AARP, University of Illinois, Michigan State University, R.Evolución Latina, Ballet Hispanico, Universidad de Guanajuato, Millikin University, THRT Greater Chicago, Windy City Rollers, and PODERworks.

Presently, Heather serves as the Senior Advisor of Strategic Operations for R.Evolución Latina, an international Latinx Broadway nonprofit organization. Its purpose is rooted in collective action, human growth, transformation, and social change through the performing arts. Throughout the years, Heather has taught courses and has delivered motivational and informational presentations at institutions such as Michigan State University, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, Penn State University, Universidad de Guanajuato (Mexico), Northeastern Illinois University, University of Northern Iowa, Lewis University, St. Xavier University, Cornell College as well as in non-profit, church, high school, and preschool settings. Additionally, she has presented her research at countless universities in the U.S. and abroad including, for example, Universidad de los Andes-Bogotá, Colombia, University of Auckland-New Zealand, George Washington University, and the University of Southern California.

During her first year of teaching high school in an all African-American male school, she was elected the Hardest Working Teacher. More recently she received a Faculty Woman of Distinction Award at Saint Xavier University. In 2019, at the Chicago Board of Education, Heather delivered supportive testimony to recognize Indigenous People’s Day.

For more than 6 years, Heather has been a sought-after motivational speaker for Family Shelter Service of Metropolitan Family Services, helping to earn thousands through her vulnerable storytelling as a survivor of domestic violence. As a member of the Speaker’s Bureau, she has addressed over 100+ member audiences and has been a critical part of helping the development team secure funding to address domestic violence. Her academic pursuits have hurled her through such prestigious institutions as the University of Illinois-both (Champaign and Chicago), Michigan State University, Yale University, Autonomous University of Southern Baja California (Mexico), and University of Guanajuato (Mexico). As a PhD student in Policy Studies in Urban Education, she has maintained a 4.0 GPA while caring for a parent with cancer, surviving domestic violence, experiencing pregnancy loss, and being a sole custodial parent. Heather is a proud first-generation college degree recipient and her travels include: all 50 states, 31 Mexican states, 35+ countries, and 25 National Parks.

She is a professor of English at the prestigious National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)-Chicago. She is a self-taught photographer, a survivor of domestic violence, and a parent to a compassionate 9-year old who is a voracious reader. In 2021, Heather was married on ABC's Good Morning America and is now a proud military spouse to an Army officer who has served 30 years.