For over 27 years, Heather Eddy has worked with institutions to build capacity, with her recent focus being nonprofit executive search. Heather is passionate about helping organizations achieve excellence through building strong, dynamic, and diverse leadership teams. She leads most of the firm’s searches for CEO/ED/President level roles and specializes in assisting clients navigating through Board or Staff transitions. Heather serves as the key point of contact for numerous multi-faceted partnerships within the firm, encompassing Executive Search, Leadership Consulting, Leadership Transition Planning, and Assessment.

Heather co-founded KEES in 2013 as an expansion of Alford Executive Search. Prior, she held various executive leadership roles for 17 years at The Alford Group, a national consulting firm that partners with nonprofits and provides fundraising and organizational strategy consulting.

Education and Credentials:

• M.S. in Higher Education Administration and B.A. in Interpersonal Relations from Purdue University
• Certificate of Fund Raising Management (CFRM) from the Indiana University Lilly School of Philanthropy

Professional and Community Affiliations:

• Board Member, Will-Grundy Medical Clinic
• Community Board Member of Metropolitan Family Services DuPage (MFSD)
• Chicago Women in Philanthropy (CWIP) Women’s Leadership Mentoring Program – Mid-Career Mentor
• Member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and Southwest Suburban Philanthropic Network (SWSPN)
• Member of The Association of Consultants to Nonprofits
• Member of Phi Beta Chi National Sorority
• Member of the Review Panel for the annual Alford-Axelson Award for Nonprofit Managerial Excellence since its inception
• Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) for 15 years
• Community Volunteer for Feed The Need Naperville, Feed My Starving Children, Girl Scout Troop, PTA Committee Chair
• Leadership Illinois, class of 2007

Notables:

• Regular speaker and panelist on issues of Transition and Succession Planning, Human Resources, Team Building, and Strategic Employee Recruitment at conferences for LeadingAge (state and national), The Alliance (national and Senior Leadership), ALDE, and various other groups.
• Co-founded two nonprofit organizations – the American Spinal Research Organization and the Rose of Sharon Educational Foundation.