Heller was also a member of the Democratic National Committee (1944–1952) and the World Affairs Council of Northern California. She was an alternate delegate to the 1944 Democratic National Convention, and a delegate in 1948 and 1956. In the 1952 presidential election, she was a candidate for Presidential Elector in California on behalf of Adlai Stevenson. in 1974 Heller was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.