She has demonstrated commitment to sexual and reproductive health and rights, a lifelong passion for promoting human rights, and has applied her considerable skills throughout her career to empower women worldwide to determine their own future.  Her experience includes building and managing strategic visions and leading staff and volunteers to take organizations to a new and higher level.

​

In 2014, Laura was appointed the CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, which is now Planned Parenthood Great Plains (PPGP).  During her tenure as CEO, Laura led two mergers to create Planned Parenthood of Great Plains, providing healthcare, education, and advocacy leadership in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.  For the six years before joining PPGP, Laura served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the Center for Reproductive Rights, a global human rights organization, based in New York, using law to advance reproductive freedom as a fundamental human right that governments around the world have an obligation to protect, respect and fulfill.

​

Additionally, Laura has held executive positions with Financial Services Volunteer Corps, a public-private initiative with a mission to help build sound banking and financial systems in developing and transition countries.  She served as the organization’s first Chief Financial Officer, opening its first office in Asia and helping to develop and implement initial program activity in Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and India.  She also served as the Chief Financial Officer at the Foundation for a Civil Society and a program officer at the National Democratic Institute of International Affairs.  She has lived and traveled around the world, promoting democratic principles of citizen participation and government transparency and building the capacity of civil society organizations to help citizens hold their governments accountable.

​

Other organizations whose constituents have experienced the benefits of her leadership include Bank of America Global Corporate & Investment Bank, United Nations Development Programme, and the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation.

​

Laura was honored as one of Crain’s 2019 50 Most Powerful Women in New York.  Other honors include: City & State New York: 2019 Above & Beyond; City & State New York: The 2019 Nonprofit Power 100; City & State New York: The 2019 Women Power 100; City & State New York: The Healthcare Power 50.  Additionally, in November 2018, City & State New York recognized her on their inaugural Women Power 100 list.

​

Laura was born in New Jersey and currently resides in New York City.  She graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA and she holds an M.A. in International Relations from Yale University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.  She is married, the mother of two amazing children, Nate and India, and has a passion for rescuing at risk animals.  They welcomed George, a two-year-old blue pit, to their family in 2019. children, Nate and India, and has a passion for rescuing at risk animals.  They welcomed George, a two-year-old blue pit, to their family in 2019.