Board certified in local government law, Heather Lueke Smith specializes in contract, construction, and local government litigation. Beyond her commitment to clients, Heather Lueke Smith is a dedicated community member, annually supporting charities such as Big Brother Big Sisters.

A recent Big Brothers Big Sisters Youth Outcome Survey found that young people who have had a one-to-one mentoring relationship outperformed their peers in a broad range of areas. The differences most heavily seen amongst mentees among middle-school children, who saw gains in every area measured by the survey. The survey looked at areas such as academic performance, educational expectations, parental trust, and non-parental adult relationship.

Across all mentees surveyed, social acceptance was the one area that saw that largest gains when compared to non-mentored peers. Surveyed mentees also reported improvements in well-being after participating in a mentoring relationship. Of the youth enrolled in the Big Brothers Big Sisters one-to-one mentoring programs, 94 percent had improved attitudes about risky behaviors and 88 percent had better parental trust, while 83 percent had improved or maintained feelings of social acceptance.