Hi! I’m Heather

HOW I GOT HERE

I was going to be a social worker.

I went to NC State University planning on it. My dad said "major in business." We compromised on Communication.

My sophomore year he was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away. I did what I do. I took action. I started an internship at a lung cancer nonprofit and discovered I could pour business, strategy, communication, and fundraising into work that actually mattered to me. Work that helped others.

Nearly 20 years later, that's still what I'm doing. I just had to learn how to do it without burning through myself in the process, which turns out to be most of the work.

WHAT I KNOW FROM THE INSIDE

I know what it's like to be the person holding everything together. I know:

  • The mental checklist that runs at 2am.

  • What it feels like to be the reason the organization operations run, and to quietly wonder what happens if you stop.

  • The weight of holding the strategy, the relationships, the institutional context, the unspoken priorities, and still being the person everyone looks to for the next answer.

  • The specific fear underneath it. Not that the mission won't survive past you. That it won't survive in a way that reflects the work you put in.

It's what happens when you've given a decade or more of yourself to something that matters. And it's exactly why this work is worth doing with the same rigor you brought to everything else.

OFF THE CLOCK

A little about me.

  • I'm a North Carolina native and currently live in Raleigh, NC.

  • My husband and I have two kids and a meaningful percentage of my week is spent in a car driving to softball and basketball games.

  • The furthest I've ever traveled was Reunion Island, solo, right after college. It taught me that almost anything is figureoutable, which has turned out to be useful advice for most of my life since.

  • I'm usually deep in a good Audiobook, Netflix binge or a podcast.

  • If you hand me your phone to take a picture, you're getting a ridiculous selfie left on it as a bonus. It's a habit from college. I've never found a reason to stop.

BACKGROUND

  • BA in Communication, minor in Nonprofit Studies, NC State University.

  • Certificate in Nonprofit Management, Duke University.

  • Twenty years in nonprofit leadership. Most of it as an Executive Director of health-focused organizations. Major gifts work at a university.

  • Enneagram 9: I bring calm to chaos and help people find common ground.

  • Strengths: Relator (I build trust), Achiever (I get stuff done), Discipline (I bring structure), Analytical (I think things through), Arranger (I make all the pieces fit).