Heather Hyden is a Senior Program Officer–Operations on the Healthy and Equitable Communities Grantmaking team at HRiA. She has over 14 years of experience in community development and food systems equity. Her career spans diverse sectors with experience in local government, community organizing, academia and philanthropy. Her work has focused on participatory planning, coalition development, story-based evaluation, racial equity and liberatory education. She recently served as Senior Portfolio Officer at the Humana Foundation where she oversaw grantmaking in Kentucky, Louisiana and across the Southeast. She has a B.A. Honors in Geography and Urban Planning from the University of Memphis and M.S. in Community and Leadership Development from the University of Kentucky. Heather lives in Lexington, KY with her son, partner and in-laws.