Laura Ostenso
Associate
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Laura has been an Associate at Innovation Network since March 2008. As an Associate, Laura serves as a team lead on evaluation projects, including the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (NATHPO), Action to Control TB Internationally, the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, and the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX). She is also a team member on projects for clients including The Atlantic Philanthropies, The California Endowment, CARE, and Advocates for Youth. Her diverse evaluation consulting work at Innovation Network—from working with historically marginalized groups, international health advocates, youth development organizations, and microfinance resource centers—has provided her with both a broad and deep understanding of the nuanced evaluation needs within the nonprofit sector.

Laura is also active on several Innovation Network research and training projects. She has contributed to research about advocacy evaluation in the nonprofit sector, presented at the American Evaluation Association’s annual conference in 2008 and 2009, and designed Innovation Network’s updated evaluation curriculum.

Before joining Innovation Network, Laura worked in various nonprofit settings to develop and manage programs in criminal justice reform, youth development, health, and education. She has worked domestically in Washington, California, and Texas, and internationally in Uganda, Taiwan, and Brazil. Through all of her work Laura seeks to promote community development initiatives by improving nonprofit programs and increasing capacity.

Laura received her M.A. in Anthropology of Development at the University of Sussex, England. She received her B.A. in Political Economics from the Evergreen State College in Washington State. Having lived and worked in Seattle, WA as a barista, and helped out at Aussie coffee shops in London, she is a veritable coffee snob. In her spare time, you can find her sipping espresso at one of DC’s three specialty coffee shops, catching up with friends, the news, or her young adult and historical fiction reading.

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