Heather joined MLRI in 2021 as a senior immigration attorney. Prior to joining MLRI, Heather worked as an immigration and criminal defense attorney at Demissie & Church, where she was involved with several high-profile federal cases. Before private practice, Heather worked as an asylum attorney in the Immigration Unit at Greater Boston Legal Services. She clerked for Justice Scott L. Kafker, currently an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Listed as one of Boston Magazine’s Top Lawyers of 2022 and a 2018 Top Women of Law by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, Heather Yountz accepted the 2017 AILA New England Pro Bono Champion award on behalf of the Boston Logan Airport litigation team after successfully challenging the executive order banning entry of individuals from seven Muslim-majority countries. She provided pro bono legal advice to Afghan parolees in U.S. military barracks, and she traveled to Tijuana to volunteer with asylum-seekers at the border. Heather has chaired the AILA New England Litigation committee, and she has given seminars, talks, and served on panels for the American Medical Association, New England Muslim Bar Association, Boston University Law School, Northeastern University School of Law, Suffolk Law School, Boston College Law School, and many immigrant-serving organizations and groups. Heather attended UNC Chapel Hill for her undergraduate degree, and was a Public Interest Law Scholar at Northeastern University School of Law.