Pennsylvania’s Former Acting Secretary of Education Eric Hagarty joins Mercury

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – Mercury, a bipartisan high-stakes public strategy firm, today announced that Eric Hagarty is joining the firm’s Pennsylvania office as Managing Director. Most recently, Hagarty was Pennsylvania’s Acting Secretary of Education. He previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Tom Wolf.

“Eric Hagarty has spent his career serving the people of Pennsylvania and knows what it takes to get things accomplished,” said Mercury Partner Michael Soliman, who leads the Pennsylvania and New Jersey offices. “His experience and ability to forge consensus are great additions to our team and will be huge assets to our clients.”

As Acting Secretary, Hagarty helped secure historic increases in education funding and oversaw critical initiatives that benefitted teachers and the 1.7 million students in the commonwealth.  Serving as the Chief Executive of the Department of Education, a $22 billion organization with more than 600 employees and contractors, Hagarty oversaw Pennsylvania’s 500 public school districts, more than 170 public charter schools, early childhood education programs, community colleges and the State Library of Pennsylvania, among other public, academic, and school libraries.

“It’s been an honor for me to serve the people of Pennsylvania and I look forward to continue making meaningful change in the world by using that experience to help clients strategize and achieve successful results,” said Hagarty. “I am excited to start the next chapter of my career by joining the talented team at Mercury.”

Prior to his appointment to lead the Department of Education, Hagarty spent six years as Governor Wolf’s Deputy Chief of Staff overseeing strategic priorities in the health care, human services, education, transportation, and infrastructure sectors. He previously served as the Chief of Staff at Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development. In addition to his highly-regarded career serving the people of the commonwealth, Hagarty has worked as a campaign manager and finance director on several successful political campaigns.

Hagarty earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in Economics and Political Science from the University of Washington.

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