Program Director for Resilience Initiative, Enterprise Community Partner
Laurie is the National Program Director of the Resilience Initiative for Enterprise Community Partners, a national nonprofit that creates affordable homes and strengthens communities across the United States. Enterprise has been a pioneer for innovative neighborhood solutions and community development financial products for over 30 years, having invested over $23 billion to create or preserve nearly 360,000 affordable homes. Laurie oversees Enterprise’s efforts to develop climate-resilient communities around the nation, seeking to strengthen communities so they are better prepared and able to respond to extreme weather events and other emergencies. She works with a national team that is providing technical, funding and programmatic assistance to CDC’s, states and cities looking to develop support resilience in the nation’s most climate vulnerable communities. Laurie has co-authored several manuals and guides to develoing resilient infrastructure—used by communities throughout the nation. Her focus on multifamily urban housing has enabled Enterprise to become a leading voice on protecting low income communities around the nation.
Laurie’s focus on building infrastructure that promotes environmental awareness and climate adaptation has deeply engaged her in deep community engagement throughout the US. Prior to joining Enterprise, Laurie developed several innovative and catalytic projects including: San Francisco’s award-winning off grid environmental education center, the Eco Center at Herons’ Head Park; New York City’s first rooftop urban-agriculture STEM lab, the Sun Works center; and New York City’s first housing—integrated rooftop hydroponic greenhouse farm, Sky Vegetables at Arbor House. Additionally, Laurie developed innovative educational curriculum for communities around the nation, aligning innovative infrastructure and urban education for organizations including the highly-acclaimed Friends of the High Line and the Bronx River Art Center.
In addition to Laurie’s programmatic focus, she has innovated systems change by forward looking policies. As political appointee to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission citizen’s advisory committee, she led the effort to develop and pass the nation’s first utility sponsored environmental justice policy. In New York City she helped develop and pass Zone Green, a set of amendments to zoning regulations, accompanied by supporting City and State legislation, to remove impediments to the construction and retrofitting of green buildings. Laurie has an M.U.P. from the City University of New York and a B.A. from Smith College. She is a frequent lecturer on sustainability and climate resilience around the United States.
