State Representative Tracy Maxwell Heard

State Representative 26th Ohio House District  

The Honorable State Representative Tracy Maxwell Heard is the Minority Whip of the 129th General Assembly (GA) of the Ohio House of Representatives. Leadership is not new to Heard as she was the Majority Floor Leader of the 128th GA and past President of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus Foundation.  As a full-time legislator,  in her junior term,  she proudly serves the 26th House District that covers the Downtown,  East and Southside communities of Columbus,  Ohio.  Consensus building is her strength.  Heard has a sincere desire to be part of the leadership that restores the process of public service back to the business of governing and compromise to address the needs and issues of the more than 11 million citizens of the state and away from extreme unproductive partisan politics.  Case in point is the successful and bipartisan/bicameral passage of House Bill 86 addressing criminal sentencing reform for juveniles and adults in Ohio that was supported and signed by the Governor.

Heard's primary areas of focus are what she refers to as "The Four Es." Education,  Economic Development,  Energy and the Environment.

Heard's legislative leadership and accomplishments have been recognized across the state and nation having received: 2011 Representative C.J. McLin Award from Ohio Justice Alliance for Community Corrections; 2011 Ray Collier Special Recognition Award from Coalition of Black Trade Unionists; 2010 Ohio Democratic Party Gertrude W. Donahey Public Service Award; Fraternal Order of Police - The 2008 Challenge Coin Award; and the national award as an “Afterschool Champion” from the National Afterschool Alliance.

Holding a Bachelor of Arts in Communications with a minor in Business from The University of Akron,  her professional experience is vast and varied.

Upon graduation,  she broke boundaries and shattered glass ceilings by becoming a news anchor with an ABC affiliate in less than six months.

Tracy followed her journalism career with a launch into politics working for the Clinton-Gore campaign in 1996.  This would inevitably lead her to The Ohio State Capital where she served as a Legislative Aide in the Ohio Senate.

Realizing that life is a series of building blocks, Tracy quickly parlayed her political experience and maximized her contacts into an opportunity to do what she had been waiting to do – become an entrepreneur.  Millennium Solutions,  Inc. (MSI) was created in 1998 as a political and public relations consulting firm.  Heard paused the activities of MSI to take on a post as Executive Director of the Livingston Avenue Collaborative for Community Development (LACCD) – a non-profit community development corporation.

Tracy Maxwell Heard has a fundamental belief that “service is the rent we pay for the space we occupy on the earth.”  To that end,  she serves on numerous community and civic boards as well as a member of Deaconess Board at Smyrna Missionary Baptist Church in Columbus,  Ohio.

As a former ballet dancer,  her passion is expressed by her strong support and patronage of the arts.  For relaxation she enjoys long walks and playing tennis.

She is the proud wife of Howard D. Heard and daughter of Mrs. Annie L. Maxwell and the late Robert S. Maxwell,  Jr.,  

Her life is guided by the Biblical scripture: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.”  Matthew 6:33