Heather Kennedy is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Community & Behavioral Health at the Colorado School of Public Health and a clinical instructor with the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Colorado. Dr. Kennedy is the program manager of the Hub for Justice-Centered Youth Engagement. She views herself as a scholar-activist and views her scholarship, pedagogy, and practice as opportunities to create social justice.

Her areas of interest are youth participatory action research; adolescent health and well-being; youth-led, arts-based mental health promotion, social justice youth development; intergroup contact theory; health equity; adultism; and community-engaged practice.

Heather started in public health as a 17-year-old participant in a youth tobacco control movement and, since then, has been a stalwart advocate for ensuring youth have the opportunity to exercise the full power of their voices.