Full Name
Samantha Harkins
Company
Hundred Place Consulting LLC
Speaker Bio
Samantha Harkins is the CEO/Founder of Hundred Place Consulting. Her work focuses on building communities and supporting community organizations. Samantha has more than two decades of experience in public policy, advocacy, strategic planning, and relationship management with a large focus on local government. Her love of communities started in her hometown of Hundred, West Virginia (current population 248). She has a J.D. and B.A. in Political Science from West Virginia University (Go Mountaineers!)
Her career in community building began after law school when she served as the Executive Assistant to the Mayor of Norfolk, Virginia. Several years later she moved to Michigan to work in local government policy in the Michigan House of Representatives. She left there to be the Director of Government Relations at the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce. She then spent 8½ years at the Michigan Municipal League where shew as a staff lobbyist for four years before being promoted to the Director of State Affairs, leading the lobbying effort. She was ranked the state’s #2 lobbyist in 2011 and was named as a person to watch in politics by Crain’s Detroit Business in 2014. She was further promoted to the President of the MML Foundation. She then transitioned to the private sector as Vice President of Government Relations for Munetrix before being named Deputy Mayor in the City of Lansing. While at the City she participated in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative and completed the Driving Government Performance Course through the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education program. She was a board member of Engaging Local Government Leaders (ELGL).
In late 2020 she launched Hundred Place Consulting. She’s worked with clients who focus on community development including the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy, the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan, Community Development Advocates of Detroit, the City of Flint, Engaging Local Government Leaders and the Michigan Municipal Services Authority.
She lives in downtown Lansing with her husband and son, and is an avid reader and runner.
Her career in community building began after law school when she served as the Executive Assistant to the Mayor of Norfolk, Virginia. Several years later she moved to Michigan to work in local government policy in the Michigan House of Representatives. She left there to be the Director of Government Relations at the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce. She then spent 8½ years at the Michigan Municipal League where shew as a staff lobbyist for four years before being promoted to the Director of State Affairs, leading the lobbying effort. She was ranked the state’s #2 lobbyist in 2011 and was named as a person to watch in politics by Crain’s Detroit Business in 2014. She was further promoted to the President of the MML Foundation. She then transitioned to the private sector as Vice President of Government Relations for Munetrix before being named Deputy Mayor in the City of Lansing. While at the City she participated in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative and completed the Driving Government Performance Course through the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education program. She was a board member of Engaging Local Government Leaders (ELGL).
In late 2020 she launched Hundred Place Consulting. She’s worked with clients who focus on community development including the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy, the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan, Community Development Advocates of Detroit, the City of Flint, Engaging Local Government Leaders and the Michigan Municipal Services Authority.
She lives in downtown Lansing with her husband and son, and is an avid reader and runner.
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