Senior Vice President and General Counsel, J.D., M.A.
Meet Heather Lachenauer
Heather A. Lachenauer is a seasoned attorney with almost two decades of experience serving as in-house and outside general counsel to a diverse clientele, including non-profit organizations, religious and educational institutions, corporations, and individuals. Heather has spent her career dedicated to helping clients navigate complex legal and regulatory issues to enable them to fully pursue and achieve their mission and vision. Her work has included drafting and reviewing governance documents and internal policies and procedures, as well as guiding boards and leadership through complex decision-making processes. Heather has helped numerous organizations identify and mitigate potential liabilities and risks to prevent adverse consequences.
Prior to joining the leadership team at Belmont Abbey College, Heather was a partner at the law firm of Brown & Streza, LLP in Irvine, California where she provided strategic insights and a client-focused approach to a variety of non-profit corporations, with expertise in the areas of governance, risk management, compliance and regulation, religious liberty, employment, and intellectual property. Before that, Heather served as the Vice President for Board and Legal Affairs at the University of Dallas where she was responsible for matters related to the Board of Trustees, legal affairs, compliance, and risk management.
An active member of the legal community, she has advocated on behalf of clients in a variety of pro bono matters involving asylum, the death penalty, and religious liberty, among others. Heather regularly speaks at national conferences on the topics of non-profit leadership, employment, and religious liberty. She has taught political science, rhetoric, and poetics and aesthetics as an adjunct professor and is a former member of both the Board of Regents of St. John Paul the Great Catholic University and the National Board of Directors of Young Catholic Professionals. She currently serves on the board of Duc in Altum Schools Collaborative.
Prior to practicing law, Ms. Lachenauer spent 10 years working in the field of international development and humanitarian aid, with a focus on legal reform and economic development in Central and Eastern Europe and West Africa and the development of sustainable education in Papua New Guinea.
Heather completed her undergraduate work at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. She studied philosophy and theology at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology and obtained a master’s degree in education and human development at The George Washington University. She earned her law degree from the University of Notre Dame School of Law. A Virginia native, Heather is a member of the State Bar of California and the State Bar of Texas, and is admitted to practice before multiple federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court. She anticipates obtaining her bar membership in the State of North Carolina in the near future.
