Co-Chair Conscious Capitalism San Diego & Partner, WHYZ Partners
Having lived and worked in Asia, Europe and the United States, Laura’s experience as a global businesswoman has propelled her career trajectory. As a fashion industry veteran, she has worked with some of the world’s top fashion brands and retailers. Laura left her last corporate role as President of Accessories for Polo Ralph Lauren to help small to mid-market retail consumer goods brands at the intersection of profit and purpose. In 2018 Laura – along with two other female C-Suite executives – founded WHYZ Partners. A primary mission at WHYZ is to educate, engage and empower the next generation of consumer goods business leaders – under the purpose of promoting the ideals of financially and socially responsible business practices.
In 2019 Laura joined 14 other business leaders on a trip to the headwaters of the Amazon Rainforest in Ecuador and saw firsthand the environmental and economic challenges there and the opportunity to partner with Indigenous Nations to ‘change the dream of the modern world’. That trip was the catalyst for her current commitment to creating an environmentally sustainable and socially just world where everyone can thrive.
Laura is active in the industry as a speaker, advisor and thought leader and is currently Co-Chair of the San Diego chapter of Conscious Capitalism. Conscious Capitalism is a global movement that believes that it is possible to do well and do good in business by practicing a triple bottom line mindset – profit/people/planet – and whose mantra is ‘elevating humanity through business’. As one of the founding authors of Conscious Capitalism Press, Laura is also the author of a children’s book ‘The ABCs of Conscious Capitalism for KIDS’ - because she believes that ‘It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men’.