Heather Podesta is the founder and CEO of Invariant. Starting in 2007 with just six employees (as Heather Podesta + Partners), she has grown Invariant into one of the largest business advisory firms in Washington and the world. Heather is a trusted advisor to founders, Fortune 500 CEO’s, trade associations, nonprofits, and leading politicians.

Podesta’s work in Washington began as an aide to Senator Bill Bradley (D-NJ), followed by law school at the University of Virginia School of Law. As an attorney, she worked in private practice and as Assistant General Counsel for the Airlines Trade Association. She then returned to Capitol Hill, working on tax and trade policy for two Members of the House Ways and Means Committee. Next stop was a partner at a law firm and lobbying, which it turned out she was pretty good at. As the Washington Post wrote, “Heather is invariably the most knowledgeable person in the room.”

Heather is a Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Ford’s Theater. She sits on the boards of the Washington DC Police Foundation, the Partnership for New York City, and the National Advisory Council of the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.