Today, we are celebrating nine years of having Jill Heggen on our team! Jill joined the Women’s Fund in October 2016. Around the office you’ll find her dishing reality TV goss, working efficiently and reading the actual newspaper. Jill was voted “most likely to have read all the materials before the meeting and understand it better than whoever prepared it” by her teammates.
As Communications Director, Jill works with grantees, funders and the general public to ensure consistent messaging and a clear understanding of all initiatives—internally and externally. From orchestrating public relations strategies to pulling off every detail of a campaign, Jill utilizes strategy, bold perseverance and passion for gender equity to create dynamic and lasting change in the community.
Her past experience includes working as a public relations counsel at local advertising agency Swanson Russell; serving in the role of director of communications at Bethany College; and working as a community pledge/development associate at KPTS, a public TV station in Wichita, KS. She has a bachelor’s degree in communications with minors in business and multicultural studies from Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas. Jill served as Co-President of her children’s elementary school Parent/Teacher Organization during the 2024-25 school year, President of PRSA Nebraska in 2021 and is a member of Leadership Omaha–Class 45.
Here’s a bit more about our whip-smart, strategic, pop-culture expert Communications Director:
Q: How long have you been at the WFO?
JH: I’ve worked at the Women’s Fund since October 13, 2016, so nine years!
Q: Where are you from?
JH: I grew up in Phillipsburg, Kansas, home of Kansas’ Biggest Rodeo, until my senior year of high school. Then, I lived in Lincoln before going back to Kansas for college.
Q: Do you have any pets? What are their names?
JH: I have a Bernedoodle named Willa, middle names Godzilla Cather Ford.
Q: What are your “big 3” astrology signs (moon/rising/sun)?
JH: Love this question so much and read my horoscope almost daily. I’m a Taurus Sun, Leo Moon and Pisces Rising. I have no business doing it, but I will read your chart if you give me all your personal details. Fun fact: I have read the chart of at least one current state senator and their staff.
Q: What is your Enneagram number? Or Meyers-Briggs? Etc?
JH: I’m an Enneagram 1—The Reformer.
Q: What are your top 5 favorite albums?
JH: I grew up more with mixed tapes and burnt CDs than albums, which is probably why I love creating playlists for everything from big moments to simply setting a mood. So I present to you my top five favorite playlists (in alphabetical order because I couldn’t choose):
- Back Deck Playlist – poorly named but definitely sets a mood for a perfect fall night under the lights in the backyard
- They Say You Can’t Go Home Again – songs that remind me of growing up in a small town
- Tis the Damn Season – features winter holiday songs you might not expect or new twists on the old classics
- Vibezz – played mostly when I have friends over to hang out
- You Could Never – for when I’m feeling rage-y
Q: What are your top 5 favorite movies?
JH: Again, in no particular order:
- Little Giants – I love an underdog story especially when that underdog is a girl.
- Dirty Dancing – Movies about dancing are my jam so this classic goes on this list.
- Love & Basketball – Why declare my love for this film when Roxane Gay does it better?
- Man in the Moon – A coming of age story featuring a very young Reese Witherspoon.
- The Breakfast Club – I based my entire senior project in college on this film.
Q: Do you have a secret talent?
JH: I have no secrets but many talents.
Q: Give me two truths and a lie (and tell me which is which):
JH: I once participated in a greased pig contest at a county fair. (TRUTH)
I have been behind-the-scenes of Antiques Roadshow. (TRUTH)
I write fiction under a pseudonym. (LIE)
Q: Do you have a moment that really galvanized your feminism?
JH: Being a girl in this world set me on a path toward feminism from an early age and then having a daughter quickly galvanized my feminist values. My eldest daughter just turned 13, so it’s been a wild time to grow up together.
Q: Do you have a favorite Women’s Fund memory?
JH: There are so many memories when you work somewhere for nearly a decade. A few that stand out include fan-girling Valerie Jarett (chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls) at a coffee shop in San Francisco while there for the Women’s Funding Network Conference, getting almost 75% approval from Nebraska voters on the paid sick leave ballot initiative (and our team’s nearly two years of communications work to help make that happen), and being at the Capitol when the six-week abortion ban failed to pass.
Q: Can you share something funny or cringeworthy from your career?
JH: At my first internship, I broke the copier machine. I ran way too many prints at once and it overheated. At that exact moment, the executive director also needed to make a copy. It happened to be the first time I met him.
Q: How do you find joy or hope these days?
JH: I get a lot of joy from being outside, taking walks with my husband and dog, biking with my son, hiking in the woods and sitting on my front porch reading with my daughter. My friends bring me joy. I also love a good pop culture discussion, connecting people with others, discovering a new candle scent and finding a poem that matches the moment.
Young people give me the most hope, including my two children.
Q: What are you currently reading/listening to?
JH: I just finished “The God of the Woods” by Liz Moore and can’t stop thinking about it.
I have a (bad) habit of reading multiple books at once. I read fiction for when I have more time or evening reading, essays and poetry for mornings or mind breaks, and nonfiction because we all have growth areas or areas of interest (in my case it’s communicating with my teenager). I’m currently reading “Home Fire” by Kamila Shamsie, “Inciting Joy” by Ross Gay, “The Girl and the Goddess” by Nikita Gill, “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store” by James McBride, and “Fourteen Talks by Age Fourteen” by Michelle Icard.
Q: What would be the title of your memoir?
JH: I think if I wrote a book it would most likely be poetry and I would call it “Earth Signs.” (See note above about being a Taurus Sun.)
Q: What’s the weirdest item we would find near your bed?
JH: A baggie half full of goldfish crackers.
Q: What’s an unpopular opinion you have?
JH: An Oxford comma is (mostly) unnecessary.