Heather has a rich background in international development both in terms of  education and fieldwork. She made the transition from program development to  fundraising when she moved from the United States to Canada in 2004. After  completing the Humber College program in Fundraising & Volunteer management,  she started her fundraising career as the Development Officer, Special Events, at  Plan Canada where she championed the use of online fundraising tools for various  campaigns and events, including Gifts of Hope, Plan’s alternative gift catalogue.

Heather then became a fundraising consultant with hjc (Hewitt & Johnston Consultants) - a world leader in interactive and integrated fundraising. Her clients included cbm (Christian Blind Mission), Ovarian Cancer Canada, and The National Cancer Coalition, who she helped develop cutting-edge online fundraising and advocacy campaigns.  She is recognized for her ability to operate successfully in a cross-organizational manner resulting in full engagement from multiple stakeholders and truly integrated programs.

She has conducted turnkey integrated fundraising audits for several clients, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of America, Rick Hansen Foundation, Alzheimer Society and the Canadian Red Cross Society.  This included making technology recommendations based on requirements across multiple departments, including assessments of Salesforce, Blackbaud, NetCommunity, Artez, aka raisin, salsa, and Engaging Networks. 

Heather then joined the Ontario SPCA in October 2012 as the Senior Manager, Integrated Fund Development.  Her mandate included managing the direct response program, as well as optimizing systems and processes to enhance the donor experience and raise more money for the organization. She successfully led an RFP process to identify the ideal technology to manage multiple systems and programs, including marketing, fundraising, development, volunteer management, and adoptions.  Her remit was to seamlessly integrate data across multiple systems.

Her love and proficiency of technology has extended into the next phase of her career, as Senior Fundraising Advisor with hjc, where she manages multi-level, complex discovery processes for new technology adoption, as well as change management for integration of new tools / systems.  She also heads up the Strategic Services team providing integrated marketing strategy to clients across North America.