Laura pioneered collaborative journalism in Colorado as the founder of I-News, the nonprofit investigative news organization that merged with Rocky Mountain Public Media in 2013, the first such merger in the nation. She led the journalism team there for seven years. Now through COLab, she works with more than 175 news outlets and their communities across Colorado to make democracy stronger by making local journalism stronger. She is a Denver native who spent 20 years reporting for newspapers, radio and public television around the country, specializing in investigative reporting and data analysis. She is a founding member and former chair of the Institute for Nonprofit News and was awarded media entrepreneurial fellowships at Columbia University and University of Southern California. Her work has won awards in both broadcast and print, and led to changes in laws and lives.