About Laura
I believe that transformation becomes possible when we align our inner resilience with the outer change we hope to create in the world.
I work as a philanthropic advisor, coach, and guide to individuals and organizations who are dedicating their lives and resources to healing and transformation, both within themselves and across the communities they serve.
Since the late 1990s, I have co-founded and directed several grantmaking organizations and have designed and facilitated trainings, workshops, and curricula on leadership development, philanthropy, and social change for communities across the country. This has been the primary focus of my “outer” work.
Along the way, I also came to recognize a profound call toward “inner” work. Through my own journey of healing and self-discovery, supported by diverse trainings and mentorships, I developed the capacity to accompany others as they navigate their own inner and outer paths of growth and integration.
Today, I offer a range of resources that support resilient living and leadership, helping people fortify their inner resources in challenging times. Resilience Resources integrates my inner evolution and professional leadership in service of personal, relational and systemic transformation.
More Background & Experience
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I've had the privilege of co-founding and directing several funding organizations, advising dozens of individual donors and small foundations, and supporting the movement of tens of millions of dollars away from extractive/destructive industries and toward life-affirming, transformative purposes.
Currently, I serve as a consultant and/or advisor to several funding organizations, consultancies, and families including Seven Kinds of Honey, Resourcing Justice Fund, Cielo Foundation, TAO Fund, Landing Justice Fund, and Oca Fund.
Previous projects include co-founding and directing the Conflict Transformation Fund, a philanthropic initiative that provided funding to progressive movement organizations that empower individuals and communities with the tools, skills, inspiration and agency to transform conflicts.
Through a long-term advising role with Kindle Project, I helped launch the Indie Philanthropy Initiative, including a robust website for donor education about unconventional funding. The Initiative brings radical ideas into the mainstream, adding much needed diversity and creativity to the field.
From 2006-2012, I co-founded and directed Aepoch Fund, a foundation that supported artists, healers, activists and movements engaged in transforming ecological, cultural, economic, and social conditions so that all people and the planet could thrive. Prior to that, in 1998 when I was in my late 20’s, I co-founded Changemakers Fund, a foundation practicing and promoting community-based philanthropy and organizing donors to direct their giving to social, economic, and environmental justice..
As a young philanthropic leader myself, I focused some of my attention on engaging with and supporting other young people in the field. I served on the founding board of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, and helped develop a program called Leveraging Privilege for Social Change through YES!.
My work in philanthropy was preceded by several years of immersion in the field of social investing. I served both as a researcher on corporate social responsibility (mostly irresponsibility) and an educator in the realm of investing. My current role in the investment world is to offer information and encouragement to my clients who want to direct investment capital toward non-extractive enterprises that support social equity, ecological resilience and community wealth, or what we could call “Indie Investing.” -
In the early 2000s, I trained to become a life & leadership coach and turned my listening, mentoring and facilitation skills toward working one-on-one and with small teams. I'm grateful for several subsequent 1-2 year trainings and mentorships including the Art of Change with Robert Gass, Facilitation Training with Be Present, Inc., and Psycho-Spiritual Guidance with the Masters Center for Transformation. In addition, I am so grateful to my beloved partner Dave Ray for his mentorship around spiritual development, forgiveness, and inner alchemy.
I have found immense fulfillment and joy in supporting my clients in this way – inviting them to discover their own creativity and brilliance. Most of my individual clients are either leaders of social change organizations or are people with wealth who are actively engaged with philanthropy, social investing, and community leadership. -
To help you live well in challenging times, I offer a range of resources for resilient living.
In collaboration with nature, I design Earth Altars to celebrate the beauty and honor the impermanence of the natural world. My great hope is that my art plants seeds of beauty and healing. May it inspire you to travel more deeply into your own wilderness and creative joy.
If you’d like support in thriving through life’s challenges, check out my Resiliency Cards. This deck offers 64 unique practices for resilient living. Each card features an Earth Altar design and offers a playful, powerful tool designed to help you cultivate greater well-being.