Heather (Marie) is a communications leader with over a decade of experience in the nonprofit, public, and private sectors and she has lived, studied, and worked in 11+ countries across five continents. Heather’s work has been featured in The Washington Post and on Fox5 TV in the US. Notable awards include 2018 Houghton University Alumni Appreciation Award and 2019 finalist for the Washington Women in Public Relations Emerging Leader Award. She was also a panelist at the 2017 Association of Writers and Writing Professionals Conference in Washington, D.C.
Heather has worked in communications as a contractor for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), as well as working at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, The Cloudburst Group, and World Hope International. She presided as Chair of the Human Rights Committee for the United Nations Association – National Capital Area (UNA-NCA) from 2017 – 2020 and Co-Chair from 2015 – 2017. Heather also served on the UNA-NCA Board of Directors from 2018-2021. As Chair of the UNA-NCA Human Rights Committee, she led a team of dedicated members in collaborating with US State Department and UN officials; the diplomatic community; and local NGO’s, think tanks, and agencies to publish articles and reports, host events, and advocate on vital human rights issues.
Under Heather’s leadership, the UNA-NCA Human Rights Committee was awarded a Stand Up for Human Rights grant by the UNA-USA in partnership with the UN in October 2017. In 2019, she guided the committee through a seven-month, city-wide campaign in Washington D.C. that included five major events, a radio show appearance, advocacy, and ultimately, two human rights reports that were submitted to the United Nations Office of Human Rights in Geneva and are available on that website (JS33 & JS35 respectively).
In her previous role at World Hope International, Heather headed the Global Communications Department as the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, leading the global alliance’s media, marketing, advertising, website, IT, and communications efforts across 20+ countries. She leverages her lifetime of experience living and working across continents to skillfully navigate complex, global strategy and multicultural communications.
From 2014 and 2017, she wrote reviews and articles for the Maryland Theatre Guide and, later, Broadway World. She continues today to write and speak independently.
Heather holds a master’s degree from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a bachelor’s from Houghton University, where she also served on the Alumni Board from 2018 – 2021.