Description

Our WIBA Women's Luncheon is a great time to network with other like-minded women and leaders. This month we will hear from Heather Schroeder.

Heather Schroeder joined Downtown Wichita as executive director in August 2024. In this role, she champions downtown growth and investment by working with Wichita stakeholders on real estate development projects, business resources, public space improvements and streetscape activation projects.

Prior to Downtown Wichita, Heather led economic development efforts for nine years in Syracuse, NY. At the Downtown Committee of Syracuse, she secured and deployed millions of dollars in grant and philanthropic funding for programs ranging from historic building improvements to downtown master planning, vacant window activation projects, free live music performances, and the weekly downtown farmers market. Heather also managed the Downtown Committee’s annual placemaking budget and supervised staff in the economic development and environmental maintenance departments.

Heather was selected for the International Downtown Association’s (IDA) Emerging Leader Fellowship in 2021 and has presented at multiple national IDA conferences. She is a 2014 graduate of Leadership Greater Syracuse. She has served as a trustee of the Everson Museum of Art since 2020 and currently serves as board chair.

Heather holds a Master of City and Regional Planning degree from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a B.S. in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University. She and her husband Petter live in downtown Wichita and enjoy exploring new places with their rescue pup Greta.