Laura Patterson currently works as an associate partner at Promise Venture Studio, a nonprofit accelerator for social entrepreneurs in early childhood. Melissa asks her about the common thread between her past work: her mission to increase access to high quality education for all students. 

Laura shares her personal experience navigating different educational environments and the disparities she observed. She emphasizes the importance of community engagement and the role of catalyzers in fostering connections and how we might actually have reason to be optimistic about our collective future if we just look at what’s happening around us locally. 

Fun Fact: Melissa was a member of a giving circle that Laura started in 2020 in response to the pandemic. What started as a six month commitment ended up lasting three years! 

You can find Laura at: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauraepatterson