Heather Reynolds
Michael L. Smith Managing Director, Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) at the University of Notre Dame
Heather Reynolds is the Michael L. Smith Managing Director of the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO)—an anti-poverty research lab at the University of Notre Dame. Heather is an expert speaker on poverty and nonprofit strategy, and she served as the CEO of Catholic Charities Fort Worth for 14 years before joining the LEO team.
Inspired by Notre Dame’s vision to be a force for good in the world, Heather leads LEO to be that vision in action as the lab works to reduce poverty through evidence-based programs and policies. From her years in the field as a service provider, Heather knows first-hand the challenge of serving people without evidence of what is most effective for helping them escape poverty. Being at LEO gives her the chance to ease this challenge for others, helping social service organizations pair their work with passionate academic researchers at Notre Dame, allowing them to discover, prove, and scale their impact.
Heather received her BA in Social Work from Texas Christian University, her MS in Social Work from the University of Texas at Arlington, and her Executive MBA from Texas Christian University.
