Heather D. Clark

Ms. Clark was born and raised in the Central Area of Seattle, WA. She received her B.A. from The Evergreen State College in 1991, her Interpreting Training Certificate from American Sign Language and Interpreting School of Seattle in 2003, her Masters and Ph.D. in Sociocultural Anthropology from the University of Washington in 2007 and 2010 respectively.  

Ms. Clark’s research explored how individuals in the Pacific Northwest, who identify as African American and Deaf, navigate their many cultural identities.  One of the primary questions explored was do these individuals feel more comfortable in the hearing African American community using hearing African American vernacular, in the White Deaf community using mainstream American Sign Language or do they create their own unique African American Deaf community.  

Ms. Clark currently teaches at the University of Washington, and a local non-profit educational program called Rainier Scholars. She conducts training’s for organizations that desire more diversity but realize there is something about the culture of the organization that may be hindering that goal.  Ms. Clark’s training’s explore the cultural shift an organization is experiencing, the training’s are intended to empower the organization to understand the organization’s cultural values, cultural norms, and the changes that happen when new people are introduced into the culture.  

Ms. Clark has also had the opportunity to facilitate and conduct public focus groups for the King County Inquest Review Task Force, the King County Superior Court, King County Juvenile Court and served on the Juvenile Justice Equity Steering Committee. Ms. Clark believes it is important to be able to serve the community in which she lives.