Laura Boche, PhD
Program Officer
Laura Boche, PhD, oversees a strategically responsive portfolio of grants. Prior to joining ECMC Foundation, Laura worked at the Minnesota State system office as the Coordinator of Strategic Initiatives, where she also served a system community college as the Interim Dean of Liberal Arts. She has experience serving a breadth of higher education institutions in a variety of student success roles including academic advising, student involvement, first-year seminars and new student orientation among others. Laura also loves to research and teach to give back to the higher education community. Some of her latest research interests/projects include academic freedom & faculty unions, employee voice in student affairs and women in higher education leadership.
Laura holds a doctor of philosophy in Educational Leadership – Higher Education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her dissertation explored the experience of mother executive leaders in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Laura holds a master of art in Leadership in Student Affairs from the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) and a bachelor of art in Music Industry from Valparaiso University (Indiana).
Learn More About Our Staff
Amber Angel
Program Officer
Sarah Belnick
Senior Program Director
Sabrina Berg
Associate Program Officer
Jessica Diep
Manager, Grants Administration
Bryan Fahrbach
Associate Program Officer
Anna Fontus
Program Officer
Jacob Fraire
President
Stephen J. Handel, PhD
Director of Strategy, Postsecondary Education Transformation
Jessica Haselton
Managing Director
Brandon Jones
Office Administrator
Paula Kashtan
Program Officer
Ali Miller
Learning and Evaluation Officer
Amal Karim
Program Officer
Loraine Park
Director, Learning and Evaluation
Alyssa Park
Convening Specialist
Jonathan T. Reid
Program Officer
Stephanie Sowl, PhD
Program Officer
Ireri Rivas Mier y Teran
Program Officer
Kari Suzuki
Director of Operations
Saúl Valdez
Senior Program Officer
Megan Wery
Senior Associate, Education Innovation Ventures
Jennifer Zeisler
Senior Program Director
Elif Yucel, PhD
Associate Learning & Evaluation Officer