Who We Are

Staff

Nancy L. Heaton,

Chief Executive Officer

Ms. Heaton has served as Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation for Community Health (FCH) since February, 2004.  Previously, she served as Executive Director of the Northwestern Connecticut AIDS Project, an HIV/AIDS service organization serving Litchfield County.  In 1991-1992 she worked with the Southeast Asian Family Empowerment Project in Chelsea, Massachusetts, as a community prevention specialist.  There, she developed outreach and parent education programs for Vietnamese and Cambodian families in the greater Boston area.  From 1987-1990 Ms. Heaton served as project coordinator at the Health Education and Training Center in San Jose, where she developed and implemented the first AIDS/HIV education and prevention project for the Latino community of Santa Clara County.  She also coordinated a training project for Home Health Aides and Certified Nursing Assistants. 

In early 1987 she served as a health educator at the San Jose Day Nursery in San Jose while completing a graduate student internship.  From 1982-1985 Ms. Heaton worked for the International Alliance for Children, an organization based in both Connecticut and the Philippines, serving as the director of field operations in Manila.  In that capacity, she managed a home for abandoned, orphaned and neglected children with a variety of physical and emotional problems.  Ms. Heaton served as chair of the Litchfield County HIV Care Consortium and as a member of the statewide HIV Care Consortium.  She is currently a member of the American Public Health Association and a Member of the Connecticut Commission on Women, Children and Seniors. 

Ms. Heaton received certification in non-profit management from the University of Connecticut in 1998 and an AIDS Educator Certificate from the Connecticut Department of Public Health in 1993.  She received a Masters of Public Health in Community Health Education from San Jose State University in 1988 and a BA in Government and Law from Lafayette College in 1982.

Gertrude O’Sullivan,

Director of Communications and Special Programs

Gertrude O’Sullivan has been with the Foundation for Community Health since January of 2006.  Prior to that, she had worked in public relations, publicity, business administration and film and video production for all of her professional life.  She began as the Administrator of Advertising for Pepsi Cola International where she was also the Comptroller for all of the international marketing departments. 

 After moving to Connecticut in 1979, she decided to bring this experience to the non-profit world.  As a consultant for over 20 years, Ms. O’Sullivan was very effective in assisting non-profits to achieve their goals via event and project management, particularly through the development and production of educational and promotional videos.  As a video producer, she is a Northeast Regional Emmy nominee, and a recipient of a Telly and an Aurora Award, in the category of education for the film Exposed: The Continuing Story of AIDS.  A film that was represented by Films for the Humanities & Sciences for distribution to U. S. schools and colleges.  Ms. O’Sullivan also takes pride in the fact that three of her needs assessment projects, which were focused on seniors, resulted in the establishment of a senior center in one community, a community center in another and the purchase of a multi-passenger town vehicle. 

An active volunteer in her community, Ms. O’Sullivan has served on the boards and advisory councils of numerous organizations including the Special Olympics, CT AIDS Bike Tour, Northwest CT Transit, and the Western CT Area Agency on Aging.  She continues to serve on various boards and advisory councils including the NY State Association of Rural Health and the New England Rural Health Association where she served as President in 2019.  Some of her recent awards include the 2020 Community Star Award from the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health, the Outstanding Rural Health Program Award from the New York State Association for Rural Health for her contribution with the initiation and development of the program Scrubs Club: Pathways to Health Careers and she is a 2013 Athena Award Honoree. 

Natashea Winters,

Program Officer

As program officer, Natashea identifies strategies and works in partnership with prospective and current grantees to develop initiatives that align with the foundation’s goals, strategies, and programs.

 Prior to joining the Foundation for Community Health, Natashea served various local and national nonprofits in roles that encompassed program management, coalition building, and evaluation to develop and scale social service and public health programs. Most recently Natashea worked at Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, where she managed a portfolio of funds and worked closely with many of the organization’s advisory committees. Before this, she served as a Programs Consultant for Wholesome Wave, a national nonprofit focused on expanding affordable access to fresh produce. In this role, Natashea supported the organization’s evaluation efforts and provided technical assistance to grantees and clients, from troubleshooting data collection to launching multi-year evaluation efforts.

 Combining her interests in equity, evaluation and community-based strategies, Natashea feels very fortunate to focus her professional efforts on supporting public health and social service organizations in our region that work to cultivate measurable and sustainable impact.

 Natashea has a Master in Social Work and a Master in Public Health from Boston University and a bachelor’s from the University of New Hampshire.

Cathy Glasner,

Office and Grants Manager

Cathy joined the FCH staff in November 2017 after having worked as Office Manager for Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation for several years. Before her work for BTCF, Cathy worked in for profit businesses in administrative, management and sales roles.

Cathy is a graduate of Western Connecticut State University’s Ancell School of Business with a bachelors’ degree in Business Administration concentrating in Marketing and Human Resource Management.

Cathy, her husband and numerous pets are longtime residents of Litchfield County .