[15] As a child, she worked to stuff envelopes at a Republican campaign center as part of an early interest in politics.

[16][1] Hardy received her undergraduate education at Connecticut College, obtaining her bachelor's degree in 1968 as a major in government with Phi Beta Kappa membership.

[12] In an interview for The Christian Science Monitor, her father recalled, "in college, Dorcas ran for office twice and lost both times.

"[14] Hardy had been a student housefellow during the 1967–68 academic year,[17] and was a classmate of future U.S. commissioner on aging Carol Fraser Fisk, for whom she later administered the oath of office.

[1][12] Hardy began her early career as a legislative research assistant to New Jersey Senator Clifford Case in 1970.

Afterwards, she became a special assistant on the White House Conference on Children and Youth, and served as the executive director of the Health Services Industry Committee in Washington, D.C., from November 1971 until January 1973.

[27] Hardy chaired the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Task Force on Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment in 2004 and the Policy Committee of the White House Conference on Aging in 2005.

Hardy has also served as Chairman and CEO of Work Recovery Inc., a rehabilitation technology firm in Tucson, Arizona.

[31] Hardy previously hosted Financing Your Future, a weekly television program that aired in primetime on Financial News Network and UPI Broadcasting.