Heather Arnet is the Chief Executive Officer of the Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania and a former member of the school board of Pittsburgh Public Schools

Pittsburgh Public Schools

Pittsburgh Public Schools is the public school district in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA and adjacent Mount Oliver.The combined land area of these municipalities is with a population of 342,503 according to the 2000 census. In August 2005, the superintendent became Mark Roosevelt. His tenure ends...

. She is also the former Regional Vice President of the Pennsylvania Women’s Campaign Fund and Board Member of Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania. She currently serves on the Advisory Boards of The Forbes Funds and WQED Multimedia and she will join the Board of Directors of The Ms Foundation in 2011. Arnet is an active volunteer with Western PA Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood Federation of America , commonly shortened to Planned Parenthood, is the U.S. affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and one of its larger members. PPFA is a non-profit organization providing reproductive health and maternal and child health services. The...

, NOW, The Women’s Funding Network, and Women in Philanthropy. In addition to her activist and philanthropy work, Arnet writes and directs feminist theatre. Most recently, she directed Vanessa German's play "Root" for the August Wilson Center and the Vineyard Playhouse. Arnet will direct the play again in 2011 for the Kelly Strayhorn Theatre in Pittsburgh, PA. She has received a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts

The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts is an agency serving the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.Established in 1966, its mission is "to foster the excellence, diversity and vitality of the arts in Pennsylvania and to broaden the availability and appreciation of those arts throughout the state." Each year...

 for her play "Yo’Mama!" which has been performed in Pittsburgh, Chicago, Seattle, and Alaska.

In Arnet’s campaign for a place on the school board in 2007, she was endorsed by both the District 2 School Board Coalition and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. She will serve a four-year term on the board.

Arnet has spearheaded WGF’s efforts to pursue legislation at the city, county, and state levels to achieve the Foundation’s stated goal of fair representation for women on Pennsylvania’s appointed boards, authorities, and commissions. In 2005, Arnet and WGF led the Allegheny County Girls as Grantmakers group of young women who launched a “Girlcott” of the clothing store Abercrombie and Fitch for selling T-shirts bearing sexist messages. The campaign was featured nationally on NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

’s The Today Show and the “Girlcott” reached success when the company pulled the shirts out of stores.

Arnet has published several op-eds and letters to the editor in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. She is very involved in feminist politics.

Heather has her B.A. degree from Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....

 in Literary and Cultural Studies and Drama.

In 2001 Arnet married David Shumway, Professor of English and Director of the Humanities Center, at Carnegie Mellon University.

Awards

• In 2003 Arnet was honored with an award in "Art and Activism" from the Thomas Merton Center
  Thomas Merton Center
  The Thomas Merton Center is the home of the largest collection of the works of Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani. It is located on the second floor of the W.L...
  
   for Social Justice.
• In 2004 Arnet was selected as one of Pittsburgh’s “Top 40 under 40” by Pittsburgh Magazine.
• In 2005 AAUW awarded Heather a “Friend of Equity Award” for her work in fighting for women’s rights.
• In 2006 Arnet was singled out as one of the "Top Twelve Notworthy Business Leaders" by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
• In 2008 Arnet was a recipient of the Pittsburgh Business Times Diamond Award for CEO leadership.
• In 2010 she won the "Citizen's Award" from the National Association of Social Workers.
• In 2011 She won a "Women in Business" award from the Pittsburgh Business Times.

External links

• The homepage of the Women and Girls Foundation
• Site about Arnet’s play, “Yo’Mama!”

RECENT PUBLISHED ARTICLES by Heather Arnet
• “Big Ben, fallen hero: It's time to find new ones" Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Thursday, April 22, 2010, By Stephanie Rex and Heather Arnet. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10112/1052343-109.stm
• “Rx for ailing economies: women. To solve the world's problems, the G-20 must look to 60 percent of the work force,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Wednesday, September 23, 2009. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09266/1000134-109.stm#ixzz0XMVPxaLk
• “Why diversity matters despite the recession,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 17, 2009 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09076/955998-334.stm
• “Fair Pay Act a good start for Obama administration,” Pittsburgh Business Times, February 6, 2009, http://pittsburgh.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2009/02/09/editorial2.html
• “Companies benefit by developing more inclusive work environments,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 12, 2008, http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08286/919108-407.stm
• “The Private Sector: Time to spread the fortune,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 16, 2006 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06136/690406-28.stm
• “Top 10 reasons for more women on corporate boards,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 21, 2006, http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06080/673573-334.stm
• “Zero tolerance for domestic violence,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 27, 2007, http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07178/797309-109.stm