Mar 2016 – Oct 2021 · 5 yrs 7 mos

• Heather was the founder and executive director of the Closing the Women's Wealth Gap Initiative, a national network of advocates, funders, researchers, public and private sector leaders working together to advance public policies and private sector strategies to build wealth for women with low wealth. CWWG was supported by AARP, Bank of the West, California Wellness Foundation, Citi Community Development, Fondation CHANEL, Friedman Family Foundation, Kresge Foundation, S&P Global, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Walter and Elise Haas Fund, and W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Founding partners included Angela Glover Blackwell, founder-in-residence at PolicyLink; Mariko Chang-Pyle, author and consultant; Elena Chavez Quezada when she was vice president of programs at the San Francisco Foundation; Noreen Farrell, Executive Director of Equal Rights Advocates; Surina Khan, CEO of the Women's Foundation of California; and Kilolo Kijakazi when she was a Senior Fellow at The Urban Institute.

Jan 2016 – Jun 2016 · 5 mos

• Co-taught U.C. Berkeley graduate-level course, "Tackling Inequality through Equitable Development -- Perspectives on Place, Race and Class in the San Francisco Bay Area," with Fred Blackwell, CEO of the San Francisco Foundation in spring 2016.

Jan 2013 – Jan 2015 · 2 yrs

• Heather was the founding director of the Tax Alliance for Economic Mobility (formerly the Tax Policy Project), a national initiative to advance equitable tax policies that expand wealth-building opportunities for low-income households and households of color. Founded by the national Asset Funders Network as the Tax Policy Project, the coalition is now co-chaired by national nonprofits, PolicyLink and Prosperity Now.

Jan 2010 – Jun 2017 · 7 yrs 5 mos · Oakland, CA

• Serve as chief consultant to PolicyLink financial security team, working to expand wealth-building opportunities for low-income households and households of color.

Jan 2010 – Jan 2013 · 3 yrs

• Partnered with Bay Area foundations to establish a regional network of funders investing in initiatives to close the wealth gap and build financial assets for low-income working families in the San Francisco Bay Area. The initiative started as the Bay Area Asset Support Center before changing its name to the Bay Area Asset Funders Network when it become an affiliate of the national Asset Funders Network.

Jan 2007 – Jan 2013 · 6 yrs

• Co-authored national report and coordinated working groups on shared ownership and asset-building (2007-2010). Supported AECF to lead national dialogue to address wealth loss due to foreclosure in communities of color: the National Dialogue on Disparate Impact of Foreclosure in Communities of Color (2010-2013). The initiative included civil rights leaders; state and national advocacy organizations; and local, state and national philanthropic leaders. Worked with AECF and the Neighborhood Funders Group to integrate the National Dialogue into a working group of the Neighborhood Funders Group (2012-2013).

Jan 2007 – Jan 2009 · 2 yrs

• Worked with a cohort of funders to establish and lead the Bay Area Asset Support Center, a two-year regional initiative to expand wealth-building opportunities for low-wealth residents across the San Francisco Bay Area.

Jan 2005 – Jan 2012 · 7 yrs

• - Served as faculty to National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), Opportunities for Working Families Forum, an annual gathering of state legislators interested in advancing policies to support low-income working families in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012. Participation included presentations, webinars and technical assistance on policies and strategies to help lower-income working families build financial assets.

Jan 2005 – Jan 2007 · 2 yrs

• Led team of consultants working with the Levi Strauss Foundation and San Francisco Mission District leaders and residents to establish the Mission Asset Fund.

Jan 2005 – Jan 2006 · 1 yr

• Led national research and authored report, Building Assets While Building Communities, examining ways regional development can expand wealth-building opportunities for low-income residents.

Jan 2004 – Jan 2005 · 1 yr

• Authored national report, "State Asset Building Initiatives: Building Savings and Investment Opportunities for Working Families." Presented findings to legislators and funders at national events hosted by the Asset Funders Network, Council on Foundations, Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, National Governors Association and National Conference of State Legislatures.

Nov 2002 – Mar 2020 · 17 yrs 4 mos

• Heather founded Asset Building Strategies in 2002, a consulting firm that works with foundations, nonprofits, public sector, and private sector leaders to develop and advance innovative strategies and public policies that build wealth and economic security for women and low-wealth working families.(www.assetbuildingstrategies.com).

Jan 1999 – Jan 2002 · 3 yrs · Oakland, CA

• As founding co-lead of PolicyLink regional equity team, helped lay foundation for organization's equitable development framework.
• With team, convened national meetings of equity advocates, practitioners and foundations to develop and advance equitable development strategies and public policy.
• Co-authored national report, "Sharing the Wealth-Resident Ownership Mechanisms", with support from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Fannie Mae Foundation.
• Presented at local, state and national convenings on wealth gap, wealth-building strategies, equitable development and regional equity framework.

Jan 1994 – Jan 1999 · 5 yrs

• Led the work of the then-National Economic Development and Law Center to support nonprofit and public institutions to obtain ownership of real estate assets on closing military bases. Successfully obtained land and resources for entities serving low- and moderate-income community residents.

Jan 1994 – Jan 1995 · 1 yr

• Led business planning course for low-income entrepreneurs.