New Hires at SWACH

We are excited to welcome two new members to the SWACH team! Join us in welcoming Heather Sheppard as our Equity and Collaborative Impact Manager, and Alicia Turvin as our Human Resources Manager. Both of these positions are new to our organization, and reflect a growing body of work within SWACH. Get to know both Heather and Alicia, below.

Heather Sheppard

Heather Sheppard (she/her) brings nearly ten years of varied field experience to her role as Equity and Collaborative Impact Project Manager at SWACH. She is a Master of Social Work graduate from Portland State University and a previous employee at Council for the Homeless where she managed the agency’s Pathways program. Heather is also a recent graduate of the inaugural cohort of Vancouver Community Leadership Institute.

Heather has come into the field with varied lenses of lived experience and social identities, which drive her passion for change and empathy for those navigating their own struggles and barriers. Heather is excited to learn more from CLI and how she can develop her advocacy skills on a higher level, ultimately perusing policy reform and increased systemic access for those communities that are most disenfranchised and underinvested in.

Outside of Heather’s passion for social justice, she enjoys being outside, traveling, eating delicious food, fitness, and attending live shows of any kind. She has 3 children, one energetic Pit Bull named Luz, and a very fluffy cat named Rufolo.

Alicia Turvin

Born in New York and raised in Arizona, Alicia has found her forever home in the PNW after moving to Vancouver in 2010. With her Bachelor of Science Degree in Human Services and her graduate degree in Management, she became a Human Resources professional with a focus on the Non-Profit sector and Community Health and Services. She finds her daily joy in helping others with a patient and empathetic heart.

In her “spare time”, Alicia is the Managing Director of Twilight Theater Company, a non-profit theater located in Portland’s Kenton neighborhood. And, when all her work is said and done, she enjoys spending time with her husband on a cruise ship somewhere in the world or with their feline children on the couch in front of the tv.