Heather McDanel

Heather McDanel is the founder of Amethyst Consulting, an advisory company focusing on organizations in transition. An entrepreneurial thinker with 20 years of experience as a non-profit leader, Heather has launched several local, regional and nationwide initiatives. She uses her experiences to help clients grow their businesses, advising on topics including revenue and budget planning, board curation, strategic visioning, and creating a strong organizational culture. Heather also serves as the Leadership Consultant with the Independence Foundation. In this role she oversees the peer learning initiatives of the Foundation, and facilitates the Conversations about Change Cohort comprised of executive directors, board chairs and rising leaders of grantee organizations.

Heather has been an invited speaker on topics including program design and revenue models, volunteer management, board construction, earned revenue strategies and PR/media strategy. An active volunteer, Heather has given her time to service projects in India, Germany, Italy and the United States. She was recently selected for a U.S. State Department funded initiative to mentor a rising leader at a youth-focused sport-for social change organization in Brazil. Heather holds a B.A. in biology from Bloomsburg University and a Master's in Public Health from Temple University. She resides in Merion Station, PA.