Finding our way and our why.
For 25 years, Heather has served as founder and executive director of a community-based mentoring organization for girls and young women. She envisioned and built a successful non-for-profit community from the ground up– creating a relationship-based framework, refining metrics and outcomes, navigating various stages of organizational growth, and cultivating funding opportunities and connections.
Heather understands what matters and, just as importantly, what may not. Most small-to-mid-sized, local organizations do not survive over time; it is not easy to generate consistent revenue, manage growth and achieve outcomes. She knows what the common challenges are: How can offering a variety of programs and services advance, not saturate, one’s mission? How can we ensure that organizational growth results in improved external outcomes, not simply more internal work? How much do we allow fundraising to shape our program goals and consume our time?
Now with a national platform at Full Circle, Inc., Heather uncovers shining programs and leaders we may not otherwise know about. She partners with philanthropic individuals, families and companies who want to fuel efforts to advance young women while championing local nonprofits. Over the years, she has enjoyed working with hundreds of generous donors. Now she does just that– while offering a non-profit leadership lens to help select the best-fit programs. People are generous and want to give, but it takes a lot of legwork and experience to identify those powerhouse leaders and sustainable models.