Erica Lee Carter is a dynamic public servant and policy leader with a distinguished record of advancing innovative initiatives and shaping legislative priorities at local, state, and federal levels. In February 2026, she was appointed Harris County Administrator, becoming the first African American to hold the position. In this role, Carter leads the Office of County Administration in executing the Commissioners Court’s vision of ONE Harris County, strengthening governance, improving operational efficiency, leading a transparent budget process, and ensuring that county services are responsive and equitable for all residents. She oversees county operations, implements the Harris County strategic plan, and coordinates across departments to advance strategic goals while fostering accountability, collaboration, and excellence in public service.
Previously, as Policy Director for Harris County Precinct One, Carter led a 14-member policy team advancing initiatives aligned with the County’s strategic plan. Her work focused on economic opportunity, budget, tax policy, community development, and policies addressing vulnerable communities, ensuring that data-driven insights and resident feedback guided policy decisions. She provided leadership for countywide initiatives and guided staff to deliver high-quality analysis and results. Other accomplishments while at Precinct One included shaping over $60 million in budget investments for restorative justice, housing, and small business opportunity, developing the groundbreaking revolving loan program, securing multi-year funding for summer youth programs, shepherding the passage of the CROWN Act, and co-writing Harris County‘s first-ever Public Art Policy.
In 2024, Carter made history as the fifth representative of Houston’s 18th Congressional District, and the first daughter in United States history to immediately succeed her mother, the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, in the House of Representatives. During Lee Carter’s tenure, she championed disaster relief, small business support, and space exploration funding; co-led bipartisan legislation to combat human trafficking in school zones; advocated for environmental justice in Houston’s Fifth Ward; and directed a 15-member team delivering constituent services and federal resources.
Carter began her public service as an elected Board Trustee for the Harris County Department of Education from 2013 to 2019, providing governance and fiscal oversight for programs serving over 30,000 students. She secured $500,000 in funding to expand afterschool services and held leadership roles, including Superintendent Selection Committee and Chair of the CASE Afterschool Committee. She also served on the committee that helped establish Harris County’s first publicly funded recovery and therapeutic high school- Fortis Academy.
Her policy expertise extends to the nonprofit sector, where she served with the Nurse-Family Partnership® as Business Development Manager for Texas and Regional Quality Coordinator for the Western Region. She directed statewide and regional expansion strategies, secured $5.4 million in state funding, obtained $100,000 in sustainability grants, developed a statewide expansion plan across 22 programs and 30 counties, and co-developed national quality standards, delivering federally funded training to more than 300 nurses.
Carter holds a Master’s in Public Policy from Duke University’s Terry Sanford School of Public Policy and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She resides in Houston’s Greater Third Ward with her husband, Dr. Roy L. Carter, Jr., and their twins.