Laurie is a New Orleans native working to raise donor awareness and drive philanthropic support to build durable, long-term progressive infrastructure in Louisiana and throughout the nation.
Her current work focuses on expanding digital capacity for groups working with new voters, voters of color, young people, LGBTQIA+ people, working-class and low-income populations, rural communities, homeless individuals and families, and other hard-to-reach segments of society who are not being adequately engaged by existing voter contact efforts. She seeks to close equity gaps in who drives and benefits from innovation in the civic engagement space, including addressing race, sex, gender identity, and socio-economic disparities, and to strengthen the long-term organizational capacity of civic engagement groups.
She began her career in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, working with Comic Relief, HBO, and TBS, in collaboration with groups on the ground, crafting community-sensitive and culturally relevant messaging to drive national aid to the recovering Gulf Coast.
In partnership with the Tulane Institute of Sports Medicine, she co-created the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic & Assistance Foundation’s Dancer Wellness Program to expand healthcare, financial resources, and health education to underserved populations of New Orleans including dancers, musicians, street performers, gig workers, hospitality workers, and culture bearers.
Laurie earned her B.A. in English Lit/Creative Writing from the University of New Orleans, then did her Master’s work in Chicago at Northwestern University in Public Policy & Administration. She is a single mother to the sweetest kid in the world and has spent a lifetime dancing and twirling baton. You can catch her parading around town or working with social aid and pleasure clubs that empower underrepresented individuals and communities through outreach and activism.