Heather reynolds biography
Heather Reynolds
Michael L. Smith Managing Director
Why LEO?
“I serve at LEO because I believe in the vision of the University of Notre Dame to be a force for good in the world. LEO makes good on this commitment as we work to reduce poverty in our country through evidence-based programs and policies. During the years I spent in the poverty-fighting field as a service provider, I found one of the areas we were sorely lacking was evidence of what works. Being at LEO allows me to help our partners pair their work with our amazing research team here at Notre Dame, allowing their impact to show and scale.”
Bio
As the Michael L. Smith Managing Director, Heather pushes forward LEO’s vision of learning what works to reduce poverty. She's 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. She 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.
Heather Reynolds
Biography
Heather received her BA in Theatre from Florida State University, and recieved her MFA in Lighting Design from the University of Maryland - College Park. Selected credits include Disaster (Arizona Broadway Theatre) The Voices on Blackwell Island (Signature Theatre Company), By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (University of Maryland), La Bohéme (Maryland Opera Studio), Head Over Heels (George Mason University), Urinetown, Assassins, and The Laramie Project for Southern Utah University, Hamlet (Utah Shakespeare Festival), The Buddy Holly Story (The Palace Theatre in the Dells) and A Christmas Story (Arizona Broadway Theatre). She has also worked with Shakespeare Theatre Company, the Vineyard Theatre, the Folger Theatre, the Old Globe, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Maine State Music Theatre, and Sundance Summer Theatre.
Her research interests lie in continued creative activity as a lighting designer, and in developing alternative tools for lighting designers using 3D printing and other consumer manufacturing technologies. In her free time she hangs out with her dog, Diana, and hunts for the perfect al pastor taco.
Her portfolio can be found at http://www.hreynoldsdesign.com/.
Current Courses
464.002Advanced Projects In Design
309.005Directed Projects
462.001Graduate Lighting Laboratory: Communication Tools
287.003Independent Study
261.001Lighting For Stage
261.002Lighting For Stage
501.001M.F.A. Portfolio: Lighting Design
498.001Professional Practice
461.001Seminar In Lighting Design Studies
262.001Stage Lighting Software
302.006Theatre Practicum
302.008Theatre Practicum
291.001Undergraduate Teaching Experience In Theatre
MFA Lighting Design
BA Theatre
Heather Reynolds
About Heather Reynolds
Heather’s passion for women’s rights began when she spent a year in Istanbul, Turkey, as a student ambassador through Rotary International.Little did she know she had been purchased at a Rotary auction by the highest bidder to tutor the nine-year-old daughter of a Turkish businessman.
Upon Heather’s arrival in Turkey, she soon learned the host mother’s nose had been recently broken by the host father.
Heather was not allowed to leave the apartment for 6 months except to attend school. She was 19 at the time. After secretly negotiating to find a new host family with her school counselor, Heather was finally allowed to be escorted outside the home.
Upon returning to the United States after this life-changing year, Heather completed her college studies and enrolled into the Georgetown Law Center. She focused on Civil and Human Rights winning the national Pro Bono Publico award for her non-profit project empowering service workers on Capital Hill.The Capital was considered the “Last Plantation” because of its racial divide.
Heather chose Georgetown Law Center because it was the only law school with a clinic where she could learn to draft and pass federal legislation, and so she did, on behalf of people with disabilities.
While there, she volunteered to work on a class action lawsuit brought by the Washington, D.C., female prison guards for sexual harassment and assault by the male guards that made her Istanbul experience seem like a walk in the park.
After lobbying with talking points on Capital Hill, she realized that lawmaking wasn’t based on merit, truth or even common sense, but mostly on wealth, privilege and retaining both.
In hopes of making a difference without losing her soul, she followed her passion for social justice to finish law school at Boalt Hall, Berkeley, California, where she became a civil rights attorney under the mentorship of George Holland, an esteemed African-American litigati .