Executive Team – National
Dr. Heather D. Wathington
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Dr. Heather D. Wathington has dedicated her career to the belief that high school graduation is the life moment where opportunity radically changes and that everyone, especially first-generation college students and students of color, can achieve their ambitions through higher and postsecondary education. Her background is a blend of education, research, and philanthropy focused on students from underserved communities. She currently serves as CEO of iMentor, a national leader in 1:1 mentoring that builds long-term, personal relationships to help students, largely first-generation college students from under-resourced communities, more equitably access and navigate a path through postsecondary education and career.
With iMentor, Dr. Wathington is committed to helping students connect with caring adult mentors as they make some of the most important decisions during one of the most critical times of their lives. Through Dr. Wathington’s leadership, iMentor aims to harness the power of human connection to build social capital through both a nested model in schools and colleges via the power of technology.
Prior to joining iMentor in 2021, Dr. Wathington served as the 18th president of Girard College in Philadelphia, PA and the CEO at See Forever Foundation and the Maya Angelou Schools in Washington, DC. For ten years, she was a professor of education at the School of Human Development and Education at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA. Her research spans the areas of college access, matriculation, and persistence into higher education, and postgraduate study and research training. Dr. Wathington has authored more than 50 educational journal articles, reports, and peer-reviewed presentations. She serves as an executive board member of two education non-profit organizations -- New Futures (DC) and Groundswell Network (NYC).
Dr. Wathington is a graduate of Wellesley College and earned a master’s degree in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania. She has her doctorate from the University of Michigan in Higher and Postsecondary Education.
