After 7 years working as a communications professional in the private sector Laura made the break into the third sector in 2005 and didn’t look back.  A coach, trainer, project manager and community activist, Laura has worked with a broad cross-section of statutory, voluntary and charitable organisations.  She spent 7 years at Affinity Sutton (now Clarion) where she merged three compliance teams into one and turned around the Group’s gas safety, asbestos and fire risk functions following a group-wide restructure.  A natural troubleshooter, she moved into a broader improvement role supporting struggling teams to turn their performance around.

In addition to her stint in Social Housing, Laura has also worked with a number of small and medium sized organisations in such diverse fields as community sport education, child sexual abuse, addictions and domestic violence. Since moving to Birmingham in 2013 Laura has immersed herself in local causes and has developed an asset-based methodology to her community work.  She adopts a strengths-based approach to what she does using her positivity, enthusiasm and authenticity to build resilience and to bring out the best in the people, places, teams and communities she works with.

Laura has a BA (Hons) in Sociology and Social Anthropology, a Certificate in Coaching from Warwick University and has taken a number of enriching counselling and mentoring courses at Lewisham College, the University of Greenwich and the Birmingham Adult Education Centre, to deepen her listening and coaching skills.  Laura completed an inhouse ILM Leadership and Management programme at Affinity Sutton and was trained in Third Sector Project Management at The Management Centre in London.  Laura also has an award in Education and Training (formerly known as PTLLS) and was selected to take part in an experiential and immersive Women and Community Leadership programme run by Near Neighbours in Birmingham.

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