Today, the 38-year-old is a mom, an attorney with a successful practice, and a philanthropist who recently started her own nonprofit organization. East Valley Family Center provides non-legal resources and services to make co-parenting, custody matters and child support more efficient at a nominal fee. The center also offers free community outreach events, such as its annual school and food drive for Mesa and Gilbert families.
Born and raised in Virginia, Harding’s father died when she was 7 years old. Her mother continued to raise their family of six: four children and two cousins. “We were too broke to have new things, but not enough to get financial aid,” she says. “How am I supposed to excel with broken pencils?”
But childhood friend Jessica Duren says she knew Harding was destined for greatness ever since the two were students in their school’s gifted program. Harding went on to earn degrees from American University Washington College of Law, and Pepperdine University School of Law.
“Even when we were children, you always stood by your personal convictions and were not influenced by peer pressure,” she wrote in a letter to Harding. “You could have easily gone down a course predicted by statistics or naysayers, but you were courageous enough to follow a path unlike anyone.”
