Heather Hackett is a visionary entrepreneur, speaker, and passionate advocate for community resilience and disaster communication reform. With more than 20 years of experience living in Florida and witnessing the realities of severe weather firsthand, Heather recognized a major gap that most people do not fully understand until disaster strikes: communities struggle to find trusted information, resources, and connection when they need it most.

 

That realization led her to create Local Relief.

 

What began as an idea in 2017 evolved into a mission-driven movement focused on helping communities stay connected before, during, and after disasters. Heather’s passion was further ignited after witnessing the devastation and communication breakdown surrounding Hurricane Ian, reinforcing her belief that the greatest issue during disasters is often not a lack of help - but the inability for people to find it.

 

Known for her grassroots approach and natural ability to connect people, Heather has built relationships across nonprofits, emergency management, businesses, churches, volunteer organizations, and community leaders nationwide. Her work centers around one core belief: when communities stay connected, they recover stronger.

 

Before dedicating herself fully to Local Relief, Heather founded “I Train Your Kids,” a program focused on teaching children healthy lifestyle habits, and later launched Be Me Books, a children’s publishing company centered around books that promote empowerment and confidence. Her background also includes education, corporate training, communications, entrepreneurship, and event management - experiences that helped shape her leadership style and deep understanding of human connection.

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Today, Heather continues to advocate for stronger, more connected communities and believes the future of resilience starts at the local level — neighbors helping neighbors, organizations working together, and people knowing where to turn before the next disaster happens.

 

Because when disaster strikes, neighbors show up — and connected communities recover stronger together.