Heather Drennan

Heather Drennan brings nearly 20 years of experience in public budgeting, policy analysis, performance management, and strategic planning. Most recently, she served as Deputy Budget and Management Services Director for Wake County, where “budget” encompassed everything from management consulting and fiscal planning to program evaluation, grant administration, and the occasional “other duties as assigned.”

Heather has led the development and execution of budgets for a range of public programs, providing data-informed, stakeholder-driven recommendations to both executive and elected leadership. She has also held nonprofit board leadership roles, including serving as president of the North Carolina Local Government Budget Association and on the board of directors for Wake County Smart Start.

In this course, she draws on both technical expertise and real-world experience to examine the intersection of budgeting, policy analysis, and leadership in the public sector.
She earned her MPA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Government.