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Heather Pantano was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and moved to Thompson, Connecticut when she was seven years old. She notes that Thompson is located in the “quiet corner” of Connecticut and that her house was one mile from Massachusetts and five miles from Rhode Island. Although she spent most of her childhood in Connecticut, Heather like most people from Thompson, identifies with Massachusetts which has resulted in her passion for the Red Sox and the Patriots.
After graduating high school in 2000, Heather moved to New Britain, Connecticut and attended Central Connecticut State University. After graduation she moved around Hartford County from New Britain to Manchester to Rockville, back to New Britain, then to Windsor Locks, Hartford and finally to her current home in Avon. In addition to her BA from CCSU, Heather earned a Masters in Business Administration from Bay Path University. She is Director of Marketing for a Fortune 500 company, where she has been for over thirteen years.
Heather’s husband Paolo was introduced to her by a coworker who is one of her best friends. The day after their first date, she called her mom and told her she had met “the one”. Three months later on New Year’s Eve, her proposed and one year later, again on New Year’s Eve, they were married. They have two children - Arianna (“AJ”), age four and Salvatore, age one. They also have a German Shepard, Bello and a cat, Nia.
When she is not chasing after her small children or working, Heather enjoys an active lifestyle. She’s a runner and has participated in team long distance relay races and run ten half-marathons plus so many 5k and 10k races that she can’t count them. She also loves yoga, resistance training, cycling and hiking. Her favorite running buddy is her dog. Heather is an avid reader and used to read a book a week until she had children. Her family has season tickets to the Hartford Wolfpack and they cheer on the New York Rangers from their sofa at home. They are also season ticket holders for the Hartford Stage and enjoy supporting local theater.
Heather has been an active volunteer at the non-profit, Dress for Success for nine years. Dress for Success helps disadvantaged women get reintroduced to the workplace through suiting and mentorship. She very much enjoys empowering women, so they can support themselves and their families. Because she has family in Rotary, Heather knew that becoming a Rotarian was right for her. She is honored that Rotary of Avon-Canton has put its trust in her as an officer and she looks forward to making the club members proud of her as President.