Poli Sci graduate receives award for using compelling stories to spark sweeping change

Sharing stories to influence the decisions of U.S. leaders is what Carter Headrick '93 has spent much of his career doing. This spring, he will be honored with the MSUM Foundation's Dragon Impact Award, a fitting recognition for his influence on public policies that directly affect the health of Americans across the country.

A political science graduate from Luverne, Minn., Headrick first worked on political campaigns for Minnesota state legislative, congressional and governor races.

"I really enjoyed candidate work, because you're investing in an individual who will then go make decisions that align with what you care about," he says.

Headrick then transitioned from working for candidates to working on issues. Unlike his experience in political campaigns, Headrick noticed that the conversations were quite different. As he recruited grassroots advocates, he enjoyed meeting "regular" people willing to work together to push change in their communities.

"When you work on an issue, it doesn't matter what political party you're in. Hearing people's stories is much more interesting and fun to engage on that level," he says.

Headrick is proud of his success in Washington state. In the Puget Sound region, his team convinced voters to approve funding for a mass transit system, after three previous ballot measures for its funding had failed. He says the key to that success was making people realize that even if they didn't use the transit system, others would, and this would alleviate some traffic congestion and that they were building something that would grow as the region grew.

At a time when tobacco billboards were everywhere (1997), it was, again, a personal story that evoked change. While working for a Seattle nonprofit, Headrick met Cathy, the mother of a young boy named Jack. Cathy told how one of Jack's first words was "camel", because the two passed Joe Camel billboards daily. Through Headrick's grassroots activism, they were to get tobacco billboards banned in King County.

"I tell this story," he says, "because, a mom and little kid in Seattle showed how we can take on the most powerful companies and interests in America and win."

Headrick also worked with a conservative Texas legislature and governor to pass a large cigarette tax and he helped make bars and restaurants in Austin, Texas smoke-free. In Minnesota, after the state attorney general successfully sued tobacco companies, he worked with the legislature and thousands of grassroots advocates to dedicate funds to tobacco prevention and community health.

Headrick spent several years as a radio announcer, producer and news reporter. His gift is telling compelling stories and leading teams of passionate, organized advocates.

Years prior, Headrick was drawn to MSUM because of its political science program and its high-quality professors, particularly Andrew Conteh and Jim Danielson. "It was easy to build a relationship with them," he says.

What's more, he built lifelong friendships. One of his good friends, current communication & journalism Professor Kay Beckermann, traveled to D.C. with him as a part of a seminar to see Bill Clinton get sworn in and to learn about what happens during a presidential transition.

"You come out of high school thinking you know how the world works," Headrick says. "The first thing MSUM taught me was that I didn't even know what the questions were. What I was really learning was how to think and move into the world."

As a student involved in College Democrats, Headrick partnered with the College Republicans on election day to line up a hayride with hot chocolate to and from the off-campus polling place, so students had easy access to voting. That year, voting participation was off the charts.

"I had good friends who disagreed with me on a lot of issues," he says. "But we learned how to talk about those issues and team up to get students involved."

The bulk of Headrick's career has been with the American Heart Association (2008-2023), which, for the first time under his leadership, partnered with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to bring assistance to communities that receive federal grants for improving their access to healthy food and opportunities for physical activity.

Headrick was also instrumental in founding Voices for Healthy Kids, which aims to make each day healthier for all children through state and community policy changes focused on programs that address the root causes of childhood obesity and health inequities. Through this organization, Headrick was at the center of achieving 398 policy successes that impacted the lives of more than 298,000,000 people.

Headrick is helping build South Central Minnesota Food Recovery, which reduces food insecurity and waste. He is also exploring a system called "Food is Medicine", in which doctors prescribe healthy meals or foods, and is helping First Aid Arts, an organization that trains people around the world to use art and music to de-escalate stress and improve mental health, including work in Romania and Jordan for Ukrainian and Syrian refugees.

For fun, he has a podcast called "The Key and the Kite", focused on impactful stories of all kinds.

"We know stories are incredibly powerful in getting people to change their minds or make a decision," Headrick says. "I find the Jacks and Cathys of the world, learn and help them refine their stories for quick delivery, and then amplify their story so that elected officials and other people in the community hear them."