Biography

PRESIDENT AND CEO

Laura C. Romero, Ph.D. has worked at a world-class university, a flagship television station and various non-profits throughout her career. She has over two decades of experience in government & community relations, advocacy, internships, mentoring, coaching, public-private partnerships, Hispanic marketing and public speaking.

During her career, Laura has represented the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Univision, Communities In Schools, Inc., Child 360 (formerly Los Angeles Universal Preschool), and Los Angeles Unified School District as a liaison by working with diverse constituencies including local, state and federal elected officials, corporate executives, community leaders, school/university administrators, faculty, students, alumni, volunteers, parents, and families.

Romero has also successfully managed new, innovative initiatives, with attention to detail, including the national La Promesa award winning Communities In Schools/Univision Mentoring Initiative and the Los Angeles Region of the United States Census Bureau Partnership award winning Census 2000 Initiative. While serving as Acting Director of Public Affairs, she worked on Univision’s first televised forum featuring California Governor Gray Davis and Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo that has since been used as a template for similar televised Univision events.

During her tenure at UCLA, Dr. Romero designed and taught a new undergraduate seminar titled “Civic Engagement in Los Angeles” that attracted students from different majors, worked in the Office of Government & Community Relations and managed national internship placement for 200 students at the EXPO Center.

Laura has also created and staffed an inaugural Corporate Council and identified new revenue streams and opportunities at Child 360. As a consultant, she has worked with the Goodwill Southern California, Career Ladders Project/Foundation for California Community Colleges, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Mockingbird Communications, College Access Information Continuum, University of St. Thomas, Univision Communications, Inc. and Communities In Schools, Inc. Romero has also served as an Executive Coach at Loyola Marymount University’s Executive MBA Program.

Dr. Romero has addressed audiences ranging from 20 to 500 people by speaking on topics such as mentoring, networking, careers, workforce development, internships, corporate-nonprofit partnerships, civic engagement, graduate school and data based decision making, and has also written on mentoring and the American college freshman.

Laura C. Romero received her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from UCLA, where she passed her doctoral comprehensive examination with honors and was awarded a UCLA merit based doctoral fellowship. Dr. Romero’s dissertation is titled “The Impact of Mentoring on the Undergraduate Careers of Mexican Americans”.