2004 Alumni Achievement Award Recipient

Jennifer Chiappetta Heffron exemplifies the Jepson School's mission of understanding the moral responsibilities of leadership and exercising leadership in service to others. The Jepson School recognizes Heffron for her advocacy work in the mental health field, her personal and professional commitment to equity and social justice, and her kindness and compassion to others.

After graduating from the University of Richmond, Heffron attended the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she received her juris doctor in 1997. While in law school, Heffron served as co-president and fundraising chair of the Pitt Legal Income Sharing Foundation, an organization that provides funding for students to take summer positions working with people who have limited access to legal representation. In addition, Heffron completed an internship at the National Whistleblower Center, which provides legal counsel to employees who expose companies in violation of federal regulations. As a law student, she also completed an externship at the Legal Aid for Children and a clerkship with the Disabilities Law Project.

Upon graduation, Heffron worked as a pro bono attorney for the National Council on Disability in Washington, D.C., and as the manager for the Nonprofit Leader Program at the Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars. Over the past five years, she has worked for the National Mental Health Association (NMHA) in Alexandria, Va. where she has held several significant positions of increasing scope and responsibility at the nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit organization addressing all aspects of mental health and mental illness through advocacy, education, research, and service.

In her professional life as NMHA’s Senior Director of Affiliate Outreach, she leads a department that supports 340 local and state affiliates across the country. She directs grant-funded projects, coordinates grassroots campaigns and builds advocacy coalitions at the local, state, and national levels.

In addition to her professional responsibilities at NMHA, Heffron has been committed to providing opportunities for her colleagues to become involved in community service activities. For example, she has coordinated weekly volunteer groups among her co-workers to serve in the kitchens of Food and Friends. She also has organized annual toy drives and pie drives.

More recently, Jen has used her time and talents to make a difference in her community. She has been a board member of the Fairfax Partnership for Youth for the past two years, a volunteer commitment of approximately ten hours per week. The mission of this organization is to help reduce youth violence and promote positive youth development. She is also co-chair of the Fairfax Community Taskforce on Youth Depression and Suicide. She has also participated in town meetings on youth health and facilitated meetings with local school and county leaders to help forge new partnerships for serving the county’s youth.

In both her professional and personal lives, Jennifer Chiappetta Heffron lives a life of service to others.

Back to top