Heather Raspberry is the Principal & Founder of HMR Advisors, a values-driven advisory firm that supports private, public and social sectors in analyzing complex situations, framing opportunities for action, and bridging the gap between strategic thinking and strategic operations.

Prior to her role at HMRA, Heather served as the Executive Director of the Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers (HAND), a cross-sector collective of changemakers whose strategic collaboration brought equitable communities to fruition in the Capital Region of Baltimore, Washington and Richmond. Heather led HAND’s strategic, financial and administrative operations with innovative thinking and strong coalition building across sectors and jurisdictions. As a change association committed to centering racial equity, HAND identified patterns of inequity, solved for the problems that persisted, and activated its members to lead with collective action. Under her leadership, the organization was deliberate in advancing the scale and depth of its programming and advocacy designed to empower HAND’s member base to operationalize racial equity within their respective institutions, while catalyzing impact for the communities they served.

Heather has held various leadership positions within the public, private and social sectors. While at Enterprise Community Partners, she executed national public relations campaigns to advance their business and philanthropic priorities. Additionally, Heather has designed resource development strategies and communication initiatives for housing & economic development coalitions, held public service positions with local and federal government, and managed political campaigns for elected officials.

Over the course of her career, Heather has been recognized for a number of accomplishments in the field. She was named the Court Appointed Special Advocate of the Year in recognition of her passion to represent the best interest of youth in foster care to the District of Columbia Family Court; honored as a Leader in Community Development by the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing & Economic Development; received Affordable Housing Finance’s Young Leader award; CREW DC’s Raise Up Your Voice award; Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing Celebrate Home! Award; University of Maryland Innovation & Entrepreneurship in Real Estate Award; and named Commercial Observer’s 25 Most Powerful Real Estate Players in Washington, DC. Heather serves on the boards of Truist CRA Advisory Committee and City First Capital New Markets Tax Credit Board. She is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Leadership Greater Washington, and a Founding Board member of Women of Color in Community Development. Heather holds a dual bachelor’s degree in public relations and business management from Hampton University, earned the National Development Council’s Housing