Heather’s mission is to help people run more effective organizations and to accelerate their careers.

Dr. Heather Carpenter is currently the Director for the Master of Science in Nonprofit Administration (MSPNA) program at Louisiana State University Shreveport. The MSNPA program is a professional development degree for middle and upper-level administration in nonprofit organizations. Dr. Carpenter embraces building and managing nonprofit academic programs, hiring and managing an equitable talent pool of professors, and establishing high-impact learning experiences for students. Her expertise is creating community-centered programs, which includes developing course learning outcomes and assessments that meet credit-hour and accreditation requirements.

Previously serving as Director of Nonprofit and Philanthropy Programs at Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU), Dr. Carpenter aligned degree programs to Nonprofit Academic Centers Council (NACC) curricular guidelines and created a post-baccalaureate and master’s degree in philanthropy.

She is the co-author of the book ‘The Talent Development Platform: Putting People First in Social Change Organizations’ and has published articles on the topics of talent management, experiential education, nonprofit management education, and nonprofit leadership.

Prior to joining the faculty at NDMU, Heather served as Assistant Professor in the School of Public, Nonprofit, and Health Administration at Grand Valley State University, as research associate in the Caster Family Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Research at the University of San Diego, and as Operations Manager for several nonprofit organizations in California and Illinois. Her husband is a Captain at Spirit Airlines and they have a six-year old daughter.