Heather brings more than 25 years of social change leadership experience in building effective, impactful groups that address some of the world's toughest problems, like genocide, war, child marriage, and children facing adversity. She most recently served as Executive Director of Elevate Children Funders Group, the only global network of philanthropies focused exclusively on the rights and wellbeing of children. Previously, she served as Deputy Executive Director and Interim Executive Director at Girls Not Brides, a global partnership of more than 1,200 organizations in over 95 countries working to end child marriage and achieve gender equality. She has also worked at the UNICEF Asia-Pacific Regional Office on the Public Finance for Children Initiative; as Executive Director of the Connect U.S. Fund, a multi-foundation grant-making initiative supporting more responsible U.S. foreign policy; and as Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff at Citizens for Global Solutions, a U.S. national membership organization. She was the Co-Chair of the Washington Working Group on the International Criminal Court and co-initiator of coalitions on the Law of the Sea treaty, the Bolton nomination, and effective peace operations.As a consultant, she supported philanthropies, international agencies, networks, and leading nonprofits to develop strategies, build networks and collective action plans, scope field landscapes, analyze grant applications, and develop advocacy and communications plans for complex, multi-sectoral, multistakeholder partnerships.She has appeared, been quoted, or published extensively in the media, including Alliance Magazine, CNN, BBC World News, NPR, the Guardian, The Hill, the Financial Times, and the New York Times. She has served on numerous boards, including In Place of War, the Center for Innocent Victims in Conflict (Chair), the Colombe Foundation, Herbert Scoville Jr. Fellowship, and Americans for Informed Democracy. She holds an MA in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University, with a focus on gender and Africa, and a BA in Political Science with minors in French and International Economics from Hood College.