Laura Speer was named the Foundation's inaugural director of strategy in February 2019.
Prior to this role, she was the associate director for policy reform and advocacy and held primary responsibility for KIDS COUNT, including its annual publications and the KIDS COUNT Data Center. Having spent a number of years doing state- and local-level child advocacy work, Speer was a key liaison and resource person for the KIDS COUNT network of state advocates in the United States, as well as a growing number of child advocates in Latin America interested in data-based advocacy.
Laura has a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a master's degree in public administration from New York University.