Episode 23: Heather Foster ’03 on Growing into the Obama Administration
Listen to "Heather Foster ’03 on Growing Through the Obama Campaign and Administration" on Spreaker.
Transcript:
CASSIE PETOSKEY: Welcome to Northwestern Intersections, a Northwestern network podcast where we talk to alumni about their careers. We'll hear what they've done right, what they've done wrong, and the stories behind both. I'm Cassie Petoskey with the Northwestern Alumni Association Career Advancement Team. In coordination with the celebrations of the homecoming and reunion weekend from October 11 through the 14, we're interviewing reunion-year alumni who've been involved with the reunion committees.
Homecoming and reunion weekend are cherished traditions where alumni can share a toast to the past and a toast to the future. It's a time to come home to Evanston to celebrate, reconnect with classmates, and create new memories. Heather Foster is currently a consultant at Widmeyer Communications and grow her career to where it is today through working for the Obama Campaign and Administration for more than 10 years in a mixture of philanthropic and political roles. Heather, thanks so much for being here with us today.
HEATHER FOSTER: Thank you. My pleasure. We're really excited to talk to you about your work through the Obama Administration and campaign and all of that great stuff. But before we get into that, I like to start our episodes a little lighter, and talk about what was your first job? My very first job was at Macy's in Atlanta, Georgia. I worked as a sales woman in men's collections. So I definitely did not know a lot about designer clothes, but I learned a lot about different brands, Polo, Tommy Hilfiger, Nautica back in the day. I definitely learned how to fold a polo shirt, and I did a lot of sorting.
I learned the register, that was my very first job back in high school.
CASSIE PETOSKEY: That's great. I'm sure that there are lots of skills learned through the customer service aspect of that that have been valuable from then. What was your first job after graduating from Northwestern?
HEATHER FOSTER: After graduating from Northwestern, I actually got hired by my work study program, which was the Metropolitan Family Services, which is actually based in Evanston. And I had a really good relationship with the office manager. She was looking for more administrative help, so immediately, like maybe the next day after graduation, I started working there full time. And then I found a full time job in the city at a law firm.
CASSIE PETOSKEY: And so then, I'm curious what skills you learned in these roles at Macy's, the work study, in the law firm, that set you up for success in the Obama campaign and administration.
HEATHER FOSTER: So I will definitely say the first two jobs were very different but kind of the same. So like working at Macy's, you interact with people a lot, and I learned that it does take a lot of patience initially. And so a lot of people would always mention to me, oh, you're so calm and you're able to deal with conflict in a different way. Because when you do sales, people come back and try to return clothes. Or there's anything that can happen that will encourage them to either buy something or discourage them to not come back to your store.
So I learned a lot about being externally facing with people, which has been a common theme in many of my jobs. And I've learned that this value in relationships is very important. I definitely learned that. Working at a law firm was my first corporate setting, and I think it really taught me about the dynamics of leadership, the dynamics of a bottom line of when you're working to accomplish a goal and how important teamwork is, particularly in our firm because it was a collection of not just the attorneys but the paralegals and the secretaries who all created a product for a client that had to be completed. And we were all kind of on the line for that, so once again, it was learning about teamwork, it was learning about division of labor, and a lot of it was learning how to communicate with people to accomplish a goal.
And once again, I think that was easily transferable when it came time to work on campaigns, definitely when I worked in the government and at the White House.
CASSIE PETOSKEY: Yeah, the aspects of leadership and teamwork. I'm excited to hear how that played out into the administration campaign. But before we get to that, I'd love to hear from you how you transitioned from this law firm into politics. How did you make that connection and originally get your first job in the campaign?
HEATHER FOSTER: So I was always interested in community work. When I was at Northwestern. I did a lot of community service. I actually worked at one of the Boys and Girls Clubs not too far in North Chicago regularly. And so it really made me interested in issues in general. I ran for president of the Black Student Union, so I was really always interested in issues in community, how particularly I could get involved. I started working on a campaign locally in my Chicago neighborhood on the weekends, and that just exposed me to people who worked in politics in the city. So I had a good friend of mine, and he was like, do you know about this guy Barack Obama?
And I was like, oh, you know I think I've heard about him. I've seen a couple of his speeches. He seems like a good guy. And ironically, my senior year of Northwestern, I had a SESP internship. I know all my SESP grads know about this. So it's a required practicum that you have to do per quarter. And my internship coordinator at the time was like, I really think you need to hear about this guy. His name is Obama. And so I was like, OK cool.
So I went out, heard him give a speech, and I was like wow. He is great. I agreed with what he was talking about at the time, and when I went back to talk to my internship coordinator, he was like, I'm glad you liked him because he's coming to speak tomorrow at our luncheon. And I was like, oh, fabulous. So I actually met him at the end of the luncheon, and because I was like 22 and didn't care, I was like sir, I really think you need to do something with your life. I don't know what to do, but I think you need to do something.
And I remember him laughing and saying, you know, I'm going to need young people like you to help my team and help me accomplish some of the things that I have planned. And at that time, I did not know he was going to run for the US senate six months later. But he did. I definitely signed up, and I just stayed in contact. All of his sign ups, and when he finally announced that he was running for president, I just applied straight up. And I had a couple of friends who I also went to Northwestern with who were already connected to him in one of his programs, and they just brought me on.
While I was still at the law firm working full time, after work I would walk a couple blocks down the street to Obama's campaign office, and I started volunteering. And I eventually got an internship, so I worked a full time job and did an internship at the same time and got a lot of slack from my family. They were like, what are you doing? That's working so much? But I really believed in what he was doing, so it was a great experience.
CASSIE PETOSKEY: That's amazing. So you were able to work a full time job and an internship because you were just so passionate about the work.
HEATHER FOSTER: Yes.
CASSIE PETOSKEY: How did you manage all of that?
HEATHER FOSTER: So it was a lot. You know, the period between graduating and before I starting this internship, I did enjoy myself a lot in Chicago. I had gotten a great group of friends, I used to host dinner parties. And so during this period, I just stopped doing a lot of that, and I just went to work, volunteered on the campaign. But the issue to me, I just felt like it would be amazing if we had a president like Barack Obama. That's what I just kept thinking. So I didn't really think about it as much as work.
I switched most of my social life to the weekends, and I just learned to prioritize which was really good for the future work that I was about to do.
CASSIE PETOSKEY: Yeah, I know your role really evolved in the administration once he was elected as president. Can you talk through how the progression of how you eventually became an advisor directly to the president?
HEATHER FOSTER: Yes, so I initially started out at the Department of Education working-- the role is called Confidential Assistant. And basically, what it is is you're on a team with usually leadership that reports directly to a cabinet secretary. And we provided support for one of the secretary's initiatives, so my first role was really based in policy and community outreach, really talking to people across the country around issues, around education in their districts. And I learned a lot about that each school system is different.
We have different funding mechanisms, the government does provide a lot of support to states around funding for education. And so that was a role that actually kind of prepared me to be an advisor, because our office had reported directly to the secretary. So I learned a lot about briefing memos, what it is like to prepare a trip for a principal, as we call them, and then learning how to give them advice. So if you're going to give the speech, this is the audience, this is who we should be talking to.
So I really saw the work that I did at the Department of Education for about three and 1/2 years as really good training. It beefed up my writing skills. I also learned how to communicate directly with people to talk about policy. All of those things, and my boss at the time, his name was Peter Groff, he really encouraged me to think about working at the White House. He was a former elected official himself, and he would say to me, you know you have that innate nature that's needed for these roles. So whether it's remaining calm in a situation where things are happening unexpectedly, whether it's the skills on how to speak to people, how to ask them about policies, how to take critical feedback, which we got a lot of when we went out on the road.
And how to message that in a way that one, internally people are able to say, OK, well, maybe we should adjust this in the policy, and then externally being able to explain to people, OK we can't make this adjustment, or this is not the way that government works. So he knew people at the White House. We also did a couple of events with the White House, and I was able to meet more of the senior leadership there, and I met this guy named Michael Strautmanis, he's actually back in Chicago now working for the Obama Foundation.
And at the time, he was the Chief of Staff to President Obama's senior advisor Valerie Jarrett, and we met, and he said, you know I think that you should think about coming to work at the White House. I want to have a conversation with you about it more. And at the time, I was like, well, I don't know. Everybody looks really tired and exhausted, and the friends that I have that I knew there worked around the clock. So I was like, uh, I don't know. But of course, once I mentioned it to my boss at the time, he was like, Heather stop playing.
So I was like OK, so shortly after that, we had an email exchange. His assistant told me to come over to the White House. And we met and had a really long conversation, and he was really honest with me about, this is what it's like to work at the White House. And it is not for the meek. So if you don't think that you are ready for this, this might not be the right timing for you. And so I thought really long and hard, but I was like, this is going to be an opportunity of a lifetime. And talked to one other friend that worked there, and he just really encouraged me to just not worry about it.
He was like, it's an opportunity people work years in government and never get to work at the White House. So don't take it for granted. So moving from there, I interviewed internally, got the job to work on Valerie Jared's team, and it was very difficult in the beginning, because the pace was around the clock. But once again, bringing those skills of understanding policy, being able to communicate it, and being dedicated to the work really allowed me excel to where I came in as an Associate Director and was promoted to an Advisor.
CASSIE PETOSKEY: Wow. So basically, I kind of want to walk through that decision that you made, because I feel you talked to so many mentors and people to make that decision to take this leap in your career, and I know that a lot of alumni that come back to the Northwestern Alumni Association are looking for resources and making some of those tough decisions, those tough career decisions for themselves. And so who were the most influential people in your life at the time who helped you through that?
HEATHER FOSTER: Yeah, so for me at the time, I did have a good circle of friends who also were on a similar career path or had worked at the White House in particular. My parents, and then I'd cultivated some mentors. You know, Northwestern had a great mentorship program that I was in when I was an undergrad, and I stayed in touch with this mentor, and she-- I mean, I can't begin to praise this program enough, because she always took me to the events in Evanston where I saw elected officials or she would talk to me about her career and the challenges she faced.
And so we stayed in touch, and then I also had additional mentors that I met and cultivated relationships when I moved to Washington. So I always call it a board of directors, and I tell people all the time, just create your own board of directors, and these are people who are just like a company. They're invested in your success. And if they feel like they're invested in your success, they're not going to give you advice that they wouldn't give something that they don't want to be successful or something that they wouldn't defend. And so I definitely did that, and I started that almost literally right before I took this job at the White House and continued it-- I tell people all the time, it's not like I stopped going to them for advice.
I kept things people specifically because they did know my history, they were able to watch me grow, and they were able to give me advice that is tough. I mean, I tell people all the time. I think feedback and the ability to ask for feedback, like what could I be doing better, is a skill that I think you need to have if you want to have a career that's successful, because it's critical. And when you do get faced with challenges-- I think as you get to your career, and people tell me all the time, even just the decision to move to Washington DC after President Obama won was a risk.
I knew I was going to get a job, but I didn't know-- I had never worked in government before. I was on my way to law school, actually, and at the time, I was just like-- uh, this seems like the right opportunity. And so I think sometimes you can feel it also internally, like OK, this is the right thing. But I can't emphasize that board of directors enough.
CASSIE PETOSKEY: Yeah, that's great advice, developing your own board of directors who's invested in your success. And another thing you mentioned throughout that is taking feedback, and I noticed that you mentioned that earlier too when we were talking about how when you were working in the administration, you're taking a lot of critical feedback and how do you handle that? And then how do you handle that internally and externally? And it sounds like you both had to do this as in your career, in your work, and also personally.
And I know this is just so hard for so many people, taking critical feedback and actually growing from it. How did you develop that skill?
HEATHER FOSTER: So I think, I would say from a job perspective, it was a little bit different. I think when I worked at the firm-- and this is why I kind of go back to the corporate experience-- we had regular reviews. We had a review process, and I came into that job not knowing anything about the subject matter. So I told my boss upfront, I said, I don't want you to think that I know everything in the world about intellectual property. I do not.
I'm an education and social policy major, right? So I knew that I did not know the subject matter, but it didn't mean that I couldn't do it. And I think a lot of times, if you realize, OK, this is something that I don't know to do but you're yourself a timeline-- you know, I gave myself a timeline. My boss at the time gave me an intellectual property book and was like, I think you could just go home and learn this. And I did, but I did schedule time with her to get feedback, because I knew I don't know exactly what I'm doing here, but this is important work. We have a bottom line.
It was an area that you can necessarily mess up. So I just scheduled those regular check ins. On campaigns, is was a little different because the accountability measures are just different. So you didn't necessarily get feedback, but you did know if you lost a campaign, right? So there were different ways to measure it. But I think just that first job, like realizing it's not bad to get feedback. It's not bad to get critiqued. You can-- I was fortunate to work with someone who knew about constructive criticism and not-- she wasn't demeaning, she never put me down.
She was someone who knew how to communicate that, and I think good managers are like that. That's also a skill that I think I learned so that when I became a manager, that was the approach that I gave. Like, let's set up regular check ins. Let's talk about the first time that you do something. By the time I got to the White House, we moved much faster. So I will say, you didn't get as much feedback, but you definitely knew if something went well. And we also worked under the pressure of a lot of times, for my department, what we worked on was on TV the next day. So you just learn to operate at a different level.
But I do tell people all the time, just set yourself regular check ins before you even start a job. You have to understand there is a learning curve. It is OK to make a mistake. But it's also good to think through, OK, what do I do next, or how do I grow in this position?
CASSIE PETOSKEY: Yeah, something you mentioned throughout that too is how you weren't-- the education you got at Northwestern wasn't specifically in what you were doing in that corporate role. And I'm wondering what you gained from Northwestern that helped you in your roles in politics, because it does seem like it was a different program from what then you went on to do, which I know is very common for alumni. They go get a degree in one thing and move on to something different, or they have lots of variety of industries within their one career.
HEATHER FOSTER: Well, for Northwestern, I started out as a psych major and then switched very quickly to social policy, because I don't remember the class that I took, but I just remember reading this one book, and it was about social issues in the city in particular, like in cities, and I was fascinated. And I just loved the classes, I also had a great advisor. His name was Mark Hoffman. I think he's left SESP, but he was awesome. I mean, definitely one of the people that changed my life.
Our check ins and the way that he allowed me to just first be like, I don't know what I want to do with my life. I'm not sure. But these are the issues I'm interested in. And even sometimes when I was having a tough time in a class, I could go to him, and he kind of once again gave feedback and helped me realize, OK, here are some things that you can work on. So I think I found Northwestern to be challenging. I found the quarter system to be challenging.
And I think it just put me on a track of even if you find something challenging, you can accomplish that. And I was able to transfer a lot of that into like I said, jumping into the corporate space, not knowing anything about the job but being like, I can do this. I mean, at the time, I remember all my friends would say, you got through Northwestern, you can do this. So that is kind of something that was a reoccurring theme that learned there is that, even if you find it dramatically challenging, there are ways to overcome it.
And once again, I remember initially when I got to the White House, I just thought the work flow was too intense. Like, I just was like, no one told me about this. But I saw it as almost like the same challenge I felt first quarter of freshman year. Like OK, this is a lot, and it feels really difficult. But I can get through this, and that is just something. But once again, all the policy background, I think learning with such great professors who talked about issues in a very different way, I think that is just something that propelled me to go through different careers or different jobs with that same kind of confidence to tackle the challenges.
CASSIE PETOSKEY: Yeah, and I am loving how Northwestern is just weaving through your career path. From the beginning to each step of the way, it seems like you have a Northwestern network connection through your mentorship and your board of directors and connections in the campaign, et cetera. And I'm wondering what has been your favorite Northwestern network connection in your career.
HEATHER FOSTER: So I think just in terms of making this turn towards political activity, when I was a senior at Northwestern, we had this incident on campus. And I remember we had this big student meeting that I led. We were asking the administration what they were going to do about discrimination on campus. And I remember it was a huge issue at the time. I mean, meetings, everybody was talking about it, and this whole issue of discrimination-- and I grew up down south, so I remember thinking a lot of times that like Northwestern was going to be different.
Like there's this same space where you won't see any discrimination, it won't happen, everyone here is really open minded. And so when that happened, I just remember kind of being shocked, like, oh man. I cannot believe this happened. And I remember my peers at the time were just upset. People were like, this is ridiculous. But how we came together, organized, and moved a problem forward on campus is literally how I think I walked away from Northwestern knowing that there can be these challenges, but you can organize, you can communicate with leadership, and you can see some change.
And that's what kind of government is, or politics. Like that's the whole point of it. The point of it is that you should be able to take part in an active system to make some change. And you know everything, around Obama world was kind of like, yes we can, change, you know all of that. And we definitely hit some roadblocks, and we definitely felt sometimes frustrated in making that change. And I can tell you particularly when you work government, change is very slow. But in that organizing moment, I thought about that a lot of times whether I was working in the White House, whether I was out on the road, in the Department of Education, even now consulting. It's like, I'm constantly drawn to people who are trying to solve problems and either don't feel empowered, or they do feel empowered to make those changes and really supporting that change.
So that's an interesting Northwestern memory to have, but I just see it as kind of a crystallizing point for me as a person, and I think it's driven my career in a way that maybe I didn't even realize it would.
CASSIE PETOSKEY: Yeah and to have the hope that you can make these changes in a larger scale, because then you went on to the administration and you did the community engagement work there. What were some of the challenges that you faced there that you felt were big wins for you through the administration?
HEATHER FOSTER: So I think in the administration, I would definitely say I worked a lot on civil rights, social justice, and issues facing the African-American community. And when I first started in 2011 particularly at the White House, unemployment was 17% given the recession in the African-American community. Leaders were not pleased at all, and they generally felt like the administration had not taken an aggressive measure to combat this unemployment. And so we worked on a series of policies that we knew could impact these employment levels, and whether that was working through housing and Urban Development, which a lot of people, I think, don't know their role in encouraging economic development across the country, looking at cities.
We worked closely with the Department of Treasury, Department of Commerce, Department of Labor around what policies and initiatives we could put in place that would encourage people of color to get hired, particularly African-Americans, what type of jobs. Reinforcing the skill programs. There were a lot of things that we did. We provided support, we created an initiative that looked particularly at African-Americans in education. Before there was an initiative that focused on other constituencies but not one particularly for African-Americans. And that helped support a pipeline of students who were going into colleges and getting them on track.
And so we were able to identify a lot of areas where the government could support. Overall, though, there is still a sense of frustration. I mean, we also saw the death of Trayvon Martin that sparked literally a national conversation about how black men are perceived, how black men are treated by law enforcement, and how are just treated by the system in general. And that was a mixture of frustration sometimes, because I would see how the response varied around it. So sometimes people were just like, I don't understand, and it really brought about this question of race and how people are perceived in this country.
And so I think a lot of times, it was frustrating to work on that. But to just see how the conversation changed-- during the time, I met DeRay McKesson who was an educator himself and turned activist in Ferguson, and I just saw that he released a book. He was telling me, I saw him a couple months ago, coming out with a book. And just that our country is now having a place where he could go on a book tour and talk about these issues and get received well and have it as a part of our national discourse I see as a huge success. And so things like that, and then now by the time the 2016 election came around, employment was like 8% in the African-American community and still continuing to drop.
So there were some successes that I think were very concrete, and then I think there were some successes that I think we'll continue to see, and that's work that I'm really proud of.
CASSIE PETOSKEY: Yeah, I'm really hopeful for the future as these people out there who were motivated through your work to continue on in that activism. And Heather, you've shared so many great insights with us, and I want to ask you if there's been any advice that you've received throughout your career that's really stuck with you.
HEATHER FOSTER: Yes, definitely. I think the biggest advice that I've gotten that I thought was very helpful was-- I used to be very hard on myself, and I do think that the nature of the type of people that go to schools like Northwestern, we do our best to strive and operate at a very high level. And so I had to take some steps back sometimes to realize this is where I am in my career. And I think I learned to not be so hard on myself and that it was OK to take a job that may not align with what I thought I was going to be. Or it's OK to not work myself seven days a week.
There were times where I just really had to take a step back to realize that balance is a good thing, and I tell people, because I meet with them all the time, and they're like I want to do all this, I want to do this, I want to do this. And I'm like, it's OK to not do all of that. You are just enough if you just do one thing and do one thing well. And I just think we often can set really high expectations for ourselves, and I just like to reinforce that to people all the time, like don't be so hard on yourself. You're already excelling.
That is one piece of advice that I would give. And then the second is I think that the board of advisors is one of the best things that I was told. And getting that circle that can support you and just support you in different ways. I have friends who have very different careers, and I will definitely say for my Northwestern network, we stay in touch a lot. We encourage each other, we talk to each other about different ways to approach moments in your career. So getting that advice, that talking to people, being willing to be open about challenges that you have.
I think a lot of times, we don't like to talk about-- we talk about our successes all the time. I got a promotion, this happened. But we don't talk about-- I actually have a complete fear of public speaking, and this presentation is going to be required for my job. We don't often share that, and you come to find out, oh, so does my friend. She completely cannot stand presentations, either. I think things that happen all the time in our careers. I have another friend who went to Northwestern. She was talking to me about tone in coworkers and colleagues, and often as you move higher up, people-- what is the tone that they use, or how do you operate under a respectful tone or get your colleagues to also be respectful to you?
Conversations like that I've found helpful, and I think talking to one another and really creating that circle of community is really important.
CASSIE PETOSKEY: And what are some of the challenges that you've overcome in your career or have there been any career missteps along the way that have eventually led you to where you are today?
HEATHER FOSTER: So I don't think I've had too many missteps so far, but I definitely have had challenges. I think switching out of being in a more corporate space to the government was a huge challenge. There was a large learning curve in just how the government operates, and I moved over to policy. And I'd been saying all this time, I want to be in policy, but there were basically 2003 to 2011 that was a gap where I wasn't doing policy. So that was a tough transition.
It was a large learning curve. I once again found myself having to do work outside of work to catch up and to make sure that I knew what I was talking about. So steep learning curve there, kind of challenging. Initially when I started working at the White House, I remember I went to this event, and I showed up, and this woman was like, oh, we're waiting on someone from the White House to get here. You can't sit here. And I remember thinking, well, I am from the White House.
I was like, I'm the representative. She looked at me in total shock, and at the time I was like, OK, am I dressed incorrectly? Did I do something wrong? And she was like, oh, I just thought you-- you know, I thought you were like 20. I'm sorry. So I was kind of like, and I was 30 at the time. So I thought to myself, if there's something about me that's not right for this role?
And I kind of let that take over, maybe like the first year that I had that job, where I was like, I don't fit the typical stereotype of an aide, and I sometimes let that reflect. So I wasn't as confident, I wasn't as forceful as I could have been in some decisions, and sometimes that showed through whether it was a roundtable or whether it was a meeting. And then by the time I left, I had a friend who was like, I always send people to your meetings so that they can see what it's like for someone to come into a meeting, run it, execute it, and-- she was almost like, just be the boss. And
I was like, oh, that's nice to know. But it was a process. I didn't get there overnight, and I think a lot of people thought, OK, Heather just knew what she was doing originally. And I didn't. It was a learning curve, and it was really almost like a come to Jesus I had to have with myself at one point one day where I was like, OK, you cannot let these thoughts that you aren't good enough for this job consume you, because you're here for a reason.
CASSIE PETOSKEY: You know, that's a really great point. And I know that a lot of alumni who listen to our podcasts are considering career changes themselves, and that's just such a great point that there is a learning curve when you do something different. And that's OK, and you're still worthy of that new role. And that I think will really resonate with the Northwestern network. And Heather, you've done so many really cool things. I know we talked about some of your successes already.
What are some of the things you've done in your career that you're personally most proud of?
HEATHER FOSTER: The biggest highlight for me over the past couple of years, two things. One, being a part of the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery marches. So we had had a couple of ideas around how to commemorate that but also to bring it to relevance in 2015, and it helped that there was a movie at the time, but really seeing how we were able to bring different communities to Selma.
But actually finding the people who originally marched that day, bringing them back to the bridge and being able to share with them a set of policies that were announced around equality and civil rights. And I remember that day, John Lewis started tearing up once we started talking about the different policies that we were doing and working on within the government, and I just thought to myself, this is a man who literally has gone from as a teen deciding to join a movement-- back to that original theory I was talking about where people are faced with an issue, and they're like, let me try to organize and get something accomplished.
Just seeing his face that day was tremendous. I mean, I often think about it whenever I'm faced with a challenge, and that was just such a full circle moment for him. When he saw the motorcade coming down the bridge, that same bridge that he was beaten, his face and the other faces of the marches are something that I would never forget, and an opportunity to create that moment in history is just something that I'm very proud of. Obviously seeing Barack Obama get elected president. No matter what your political affiliation is, I just think it was a great moment for our country to have a president of color who's African-American.
And just for a person of color like myself, an African-American, a daughter of immigrants. Sometimes I think there just seem to be a lot of challenges, and I think it just was a moment where I told people all the time, if we had a black president, that may just change the conversation around discrimination in so many different ways. And I think we continue to see that. I mean, I just feel like it was a great moment for our country, and it's one that I'm very proud to be a part of.
CASSIE PETOSKEY: Yeah, it's just amazing the profound impact that some of these things that you've done are having on our country. You shared the story about the marches, and that just gave me goosebumps. And for you to be a part of the administration of the first president of color, it's just amazing. And I know you've left obviously a lasting impact on our country. And now, transitioning to your work, you're going to be leaving a lasting impact at Northwestern as well. You're involved with the reunions there.
And I'd love to ask you, what does reunion mean to you?
HEATHER FOSTER: So reunion means to me an amazing time to come together and reunite, one, with people who just have been a part of my life for so long. The Northwestern network, I think, is just very special. Coming here to DC, I immediately came to an alumni event, and I didn't even know half the people in the room, but I was able to make connections immediately. And whenever I travel to see most of the cities that I've gone to, whether it's my hometown of Atlanta, New York or DC or San Francisco, there's this great network of people who just are motivators to me.
And I think that's what homecoming ends up being is reuniting with all of these people who clearly just have this connection about what Northwester is and what it means to people, and you can continue to joke about Sheridan Road, like I think we always have so many good memories associated with Sheridan Road. And so it's just an important time. I mean, my friends and I have seen text chains, people are always like, are you coming back for homecoming?
And my friends who go to other schools are like, you all talk about homecoming in this totally different way. And I was like, it's true. I was like, it is a homecoming. I mean, it's a home for you at some point. So that's what gets me so excited. And like I said, the network is awesome. I've had the opportunity to travel the country, and I always run into a Northwestern alum.
CASSIE PETOSKEY: That's great. And out of curiosity, what do you get most excited about when you're coming back to campus?
HEATHER FOSTER: At this point, I get most excited about going to Norris, because Norris literally has changed dramatically since I was on campus. And being able-- each year, there is a new change, there is something else there, and we just have a lot of great memories on the floor in Norris. Like that student center, I was back when there was like, we were so big about the stir fry.
I don't know, I just always connect that stir fry to studying and class, but I get most excited about being there. I mean, all of floors of Norris, just different memories. Whether it was studying, whether it was a student event-- that meeting that I told you that we organized with the administration was in Norris. And then I also get excited to go to Northwestern football games. I didn't go to enough when I was there.
There was just never enough time, but I've gone to plenty since graduating.
CASSIE PETOSKEY: Norris, lots of memories it sounds like for you there.
HEATHER FOSTER: Yes, that and Core. [LAUGHS]
CASSIE PETOSKEY: So, Heather, it's been so great chatting with you, and I really appreciate you sharing all of these great insights. I'd love to continue chatting with you for the rest of the day, but is there anything else you'd like to share with the Northwestern network? Any last insights or advice before we end for the day?
HEATHER FOSTER: Before we end for the day, the advice. I do give a lot of Northwestern alums is to give back, actually. I do think you should be involved in your alumni committee. I think you do need to make it a point to go back to homecoming. I think staying connected with the Northwestern and supporting the Northwestern network-- there are so many times I actually have the opportunity to hire someone soon, and the first thing I thought of was, let me hit up the Northwestern alumni network.
So I think supporting your fellow Northwestern alums is extremely important, and it's something that you should just do, however way you can do it. I think you should support the institution, because it's a great one. And I think sometimes I know I took it for granted that our experience was so great at Northwestern.
CASSIE PETOSKEY: Well, thank you so much. You just gave back a ton of great career advice and insights and stories of impact, so thank you so much again for taking the time to be interviewed for the Northwestern Intersections Podcast. We really appreciate you being here.
HEATHER FOSTER: All right. Thank you so much.
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CASSIE PETOSKEY: Thank you for tuning into today's episode of Northwestern Intersections. To find more information about the podcast, please visit northwestern.edu/intersections. Have a great rest of your day, and go cats.