For the past 20 years, Laura Bennett of Austin, Texas, has been immersed in the nonprofit world as a fundraiser focusing primarily on organizations working with at-risk populations. She served on the founding board of the Jeremiah Program, taking it from a concept to a bustling campus serving under-resourced single mothers who are working toward a college degree. She currently serves on the board of Communities in Schools of Central Texas, and is an instructor for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Laura is working on a transformational project with the city of Austin to address the complex and growing problem of homelessness.
Laura and her dog, Ella, were a therapy team at Dell Children’s Hospital in Central Texas for many years until her dog reached retirement age.
Her husband, Kyndel, has a real estate development company focused on affordable residential communities. Their daughter, Barkley, works on Capitol Hill, specializing in sustainable food systems while their son, Johnny, is in Los Angeles pursuing a career in film production.
Laura grew up in Houston, earned her BBA in Management Information Systems from UT Austin, and worked in software development in the 1990s. In 2023, she completed UT’s TOWER Fellows program, which is an immersive exploration into one’s next chapter of life.
Laura spends her off-time paddle boarding on Lady Bird Lake, playing pickleball and Mah Jongg, riding horses, and wrestling with Mother Nature in her vegetable garden.