Harper has a decade of experience working in the Great Lakes Region of Africa and founded the ECI office in DRC, awarding more than 80 grants to Congolese organizations working in economic development, health and education.

With her Congolese colleagues, Harper structured and implemented ECI’s coffee and cocoa initiatives with cooperatives and businesses through building sustainable, traceable, and bankable value chains, reaching the specialty U.S. consumer market for the very first time. 

Previously, Harper has worked as the Program Officer and then later as Director of Development for HEAL Africa, a Congolese NGO specializing in orthopedics, maternal and child healthcare and public health.

Harper holds a degree in Political Science and in English from the University of Minnesota and was a four-time scholar athlete. She is currently completing her Executive MBA in a partnership program with Georgetown University, ESADE (Spain) and Fundação Getulio Vargas (Brazil).  

Harper is fluent in English, Swahili and French.