Heather Merriam • Principal
Heather has over 20 years of experience in leadership, management, consulting and recruiting for nonprofits ranging from small grassroots to large organizations. The thread throughout her career is leadership consulting and helping organizations become stronger in order to more effectively achieve their mission. Passionate about leadership, Heather believes that there are many brilliant leaders waiting to be matched with their dream position, and vice versa.
Before coming to Kittleman, Heather was Principal with two nonprofit executive search firms in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she conducted executive level searches for CEO/Executive Director and other C Suite positions including CFO, COO, Development Director and Human Resources Director. Key to her success was the ability to work in a consultative capacity with boards of directors and organization leaders to define leadership requirements and cultivate an “A” list of candidates.
Heather’s nonprofit management experience includes four years as Executive Director of Rotaplast, which sends teams of surgeons overseas to do cleft lip and palate surgeries on children. She also served as an advisor for eight years with Planned Parenthood at the Federation level, both domestically and internationally. As an advisor, she worked with affiliates on operational excellence and boards of directors on governance. As a consultant in the private sector, Heather recruited interim executives for corporate and small business clients.
Heather received her BA in Political Science from Binghamton University, NY, and MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management in Phoenix, AZ. Her education included studies in Morocco, Jordan and Egypt, where she lived and worked overseas. She speaks conversational French, Spanish, Nepali and Arabic.
Heather served on the Board of Directors of the Bay Area Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and the Red Panda Network. When not helping nonprofit clients, she enjoys teaching and practicing yoga.
