Heather Hankamer

Heather Hankamer is an executive coach, facilitator, and nonprofit leader who helps mission-driven organizations solve people-focused challenges that get in the way of their impact. Through coaching, leadership development, and organizational consulting, she helps leaders build trust, strengthen teams, navigate difficult conversations, and create healthy workplace cultures where people can do their best work together

As Executive Director of the CCC Leadership Program, Heather provides coaching, training, and practical leadership tools that help nonprofit professionals grow their confidence, expand their influence, and lead with greater clarity and intention. Her work centers on the belief that every organizational challenge eventually becomes a people challenge, and that stronger leaders create stronger organizations and communities.

A native of Dallas, Heather's professional journey began in the film industry. For more than 20 years, she served as Managing Partner and Buyer for Premiere Video, one of Dallas' most beloved independent businesses. During that time, she served on the board of Women in Film Dallas and was a founding board member of the AFI Dallas International Film Festival.

Heather's passion for community engagement and leadership development expanded during her time at Southern Methodist University, where she served as Executive Director of TEDxSMU and Assistant Director of K–12 Outreach for the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education. At TEDxSMU, she transformed the program from two annual events into a year-round platform for ideas and leadership, launching TEDxSMUWomen, TEDxKids@SMU, TED simulcasts, and student engagement initiatives. Through the Caruth Institute, she led STEM outreach programs and educational experiences that reached more than 2,500 students annually, with over half coming from underserved communities.

Today, Heather brings more than three decades of experience in leadership, community engagement, program development, fundraising, and team building to her work with nonprofit organizations and leaders across North Texas. She is a certified Executive Coach, Lumina Spark Facilitator, trained speaker coach, and graduate of Marsha Clark's Power of Self leadership program. She also holds a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the Center for Nonprofit Management. 

Heather currently serves as the Vice Chair of Bold Idea an after-school program that teaches computer science to students starting in the 3rd grade. She also volunteers for the Dallas Regional Science & Engineering Fair. 

Whether coaching an executive, facilitating a team retreat, or leading a leadership cohort, Heather is passionate about helping people work better together so important work can happen.

When she's not coaching or leading programs, Heather enjoys cooking, reading, swimming, volunteering, and gathering friends around the table.