Bridgette Proctor Heller ’83, ’85 MBA

Cofounder and CEO, the Shirley Proctor Puller Foundation

Bridgette Proctor Heller has more than 30 years of experience as a senior executive with Fortune 500 companies, with an exceptional track record of growing consumer businesses and building highly effective teams. Most recently, she served as executive vice president and president of Nutricia, the specialized nutrition division of Danone, an international food company.

From 2010 to 2015, Heller held senior executive roles at Merck & Co. Previously, she was president of Johnson & Johnson’s global baby business unit and chief executive officer of Chung’s Gourmet Foods. She also was the founder and managing partner of Heller Associates, a consulting firm providing consumer-centric growth strategies. Heller spent the first 18 years of her career at Kraft Foods Inc. in various marketing and general management positions including executive vice president and president of the coffee division.

A member of the board of directors for the TechData Corporation, Heller also has served on the board of directors for Girls, Inc., a national nonprofit that encourages the development of girls through direct service and advocacy. In her hometown of St. Petersburg, Florida, she directs the Shirley Proctor Puller Foundation, dedicated to eradicating illiteracy among underserved local children.

Heller serves on Northwestern Kellogg School of Management’s Global Advisory Board. She is also a member of the Kellogg Black Alumni Network, the Northwestern University Black Alumni Association, and the Women’s Initiative of Northwestern.

She received a BA in economics and computer studies from Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and an MBA from Kellogg.

Heller met her husband, Eliot Heller ’84, when they were in the Jiujitsu Club as undergraduates. They have two daughters, Mariah and Sara.