Epilepsy Foundation Nebraska (epilepsy.com), the leading advocate for the nearly 20,000 people living with epilepsy in Nebraska, is pleased to announce that Heather Bernard has joined the team as the new executive director.

Heather attended Ball State University in Indiana where she earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She then moved to Georgia where she taught in the Georgia Public School system. While teaching, she attended Valdosta State University and earned her master’s degree in social work. Heather practiced as a social worker at a nonprofit agency working with adults with developmental disabilities. Heather changed things up and shifted to working in the neuroscience department at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta where she built and ran a Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Event Clinic. She also opened and operated a private practice where she provided psychotherapy for children, adolescents, and young adults.

Heather moved to Omaha in 2021 after accepting a position with Children’s Hospital and Medical Center. In her new role, she is excited to help champion epilepsy awareness, education, and research in Nebraska. Heather resides in Omaha with her husband of almost 18 years and two children.

The Epilepsy Foundation is a national voluntary health agency dedicated solely to the welfare of the nearly 3.4 million people living with epilepsy in the U.S. and their families. The Foundation works to ensure that people with seizures are able to participate in all life experiences and to promote research for a cure. To contact Epilepsy Foundation Nebraska, email Nebraska@efa.org. For more information, go to epilepsy.com.