A Northwest Indiana Life in the Spotlight: Heather Hahn Sullivan

Who says you can’t go home? Certainly not Heather Hahn Sullivan, executive director of Dunes Learning Center (DLC), the official Outdoor School of Indiana Dunes National Park since 1998. After starting at the center as a student herself, she went on to work in environmental nonprofits before winding up in her own backyard once again.

Hahn Sullivan remembers attending DLC as a student the first year it was open. In the spring of 1999, she had no idea what her future would be with the learning center — she just knew she had a wonderful time. She came back in 2004 and 2005 as a summer intern during college, which she says jump-started her work in environmental nonprofits. She knew back then she would love to be the executive director at a place like that someday.

After graduating from Hope College in Holland, Michigan, she worked in the marketing and development department at a nature center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Hahn Sullivan then moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she earned her MBA at Drexel University. She additionally worked in development and leadership roles at nature museums in Philadelphia and Chicago. In 2018, she made her way back to Chesterton, where her “someday” became her every day.

“I came back home in 2018 to DLC. I started as director of development and marketing, and when the former executive director retired, I was promoted by the board of directors. It is something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, and I’m very excited to be here in this place. I grew up coming here to Indiana Dunes National Park and have always loved it. To be working inside a national park is really a dream come true,” she said.

Hahn Sullivan says she learned firsthand that you have to try a lot of different things to find your path. She had originally planned on teaching high school, until, during student teaching, she realized it wasn’t for her.

“When kids come to our programs, we always try to talk about different environmental careers,”  Hahn Sullivan said. “Sometimes that’s teaching environmental education, sometimes that’s doing research on different plants or animals, and sometimes that’s being a park ranger or a teacher. There are a lot of different opportunities, and you only know what you’re exposed to. You have to try to see a lot of different things to really get a good sense of all that’s out there. You might not figure it out on the first try, but if you keep trying, you’ll find the thing that’s right for you.”

Hahn Sullivan’s passion for outdoor education came about during a field trip at DLC. This initial experience highlighted the profound impact of hands-on, experiential learning on students’ ability to absorb information and connect with subject matter in a meaningful way.

While her career later shifted to the administrative side of nonprofits, Hahn Sullivan’s commitment to supporting this form of education remained strong, driven by her own observations of how children thrive in outdoor environments.

“Teaching kids on a field trip inside a national park is so much more fun to me than teaching in a classroom. I absolutely love it,” she said. “I did that for a little bit, but then I moved into the administrative side of nonprofits, away from the teaching, but I still supported that kind of education. I’ve seen how kids learn so much better, react to those kinds of lessons, and are able to absorb information in ways that are not at all possible inside a classroom. If we’re outdoors and get to experience an ecosystem, it’s so much different. It’s so much more meaningful and memorable than textbook lessons.”

Hahn Sullivan oversees all operations, runs various programs, works with the board for fundraising and public relations (PR), and collaborates with schools, teachers, and administrators to get the word out about school-year programs – both overnight and under the stars on campus and in the community – and summer camp opportunities.

As executive director of the DLC, according to a recent press release, Hahn Sullivan:

• Led the organization to reach a record 15,000 students last year; now on track to reach 20,000 this year
• Guided organizational leadership to craft the DLC 2024–2030 Vision & Strategy Plan
• Partnered with Indiana Dunes National Park and the National Park Service to develop a 10-year cooperative agreement
• Created a permanent endowment and secured funds to support DLC’s Environmental Education Fellowship 
• Developed an annual giving society and planned giving program
• Established clear salary and benefit standards for staff

At the end of the day, though, it’s about the kids. Hahn Sullivan said that once the kids are comfortable and well cared for, they start to really enjoy the outdoors. They eventually don’t even miss their phones once they’re running down to see the lake.

“The kids have to get outside and be comfortable and experience nature before they learn about it,” Hahn Sullivan said. “They have to learn about it before they want to protect it. Our end goal is to encourage curiosity and stewardship of nature. We want people to care for our natural world. To get kids to that point, they have to have those experiences first. We can’t have them care about natural lands if they’ve never even experienced them. By the end of a DLC program, they’ve experienced their very own national park and learned something new about it so hopefully they want to protect it for the future.”

Hahn Sullivan says she can see firsthand the way her work affects her community.

“What we do can impact kids’ whole lives. By attending a DLC program, so many kids have discovered something that they love — whether it’s trying hiking for the first time or kayaking, sports or art projects or conservation, or all different kinds of things. I think we’re helping kids discover what they love,” she said.

While the love of nature is obviously important, Hahn Sullivan says that kids are also learning lifelong skills that they can bring with them to the real world.

“We really focus on social-emotional learning,” she said. “They’re coming out of this with skills like self-confidence, creativity, and collaboration. Those are all skills that the kids will need — 21st-century skills the working world needs right now. Kids are coming out of these programs not just with environmental knowledge but with the skills to navigate all different kinds of situations. It’s such a beneficial program for kids to experience, especially with their classmates, and we hope that it sets them up for success in the future.”