Laura has more than 15 years of experience in community-based, circular economies, social innovation and social entrepreneurship.
She is the co-founder, and director of partnerships and business development at Collectif Récolte, a social enterprise based out of Montreal, Quebec that works to catalyze social innovation in the food system through the accompaniment of impact-oriented initiatives and enterprises.
Laura is also co-founder of the organization Taking Root, a pioneer in leveraging the forest carbon offset industry to promote economic development amongst smallholder farmers in Central America. The four co-founders of Taking Root received the Meritorious Service Decoration (Civil Division) in 2018.
Laura has worked with communities across Canada and around the world. She has supported various enterprises through the start-up, development and scaling-up phase of their business model.
Laura currently works daily with a diversity of stakeholders throughout Québec, and beyond, in support of a sustainable, ethical future of food.
Experience
Laura has extensive experience working with communities and local leaderships. Through her work, she brings experience in:
- Change management
- Curriculum development
- Multi-stakeholder evaluation and project implementation
- Financial management
- Government relations
- Communications and marketing
Laura also possess extensive knowledge and experience in adaptive training methods and in-person group facilitation, as well as social entrepreneurship, and communications and marketing.
Memberships and Committees
- Montreal Food Policy Council - CSAM
Education
2015
Certificate program in food security
Ryerson University
2014
Community Economic Development program
Simon Fraser University
2006
BA in Political Science, International & Community Development
Concordia University
Awards
2018
Meritorious Service Cross
Governor General of Canada
Research
Research interest
Social innovation
Entrepreneurship
Multi-stakeholder processes and engagement