Dr. Laura McGowan-Robinson is founder and chief executive officer of the Diversity in Leadership Institute, a California-based nonprofit advancing racially diverse and culturally responsive leadership in TK–12 public schools. Laura founded the organization to address the persistent gap in who leads schools and to expand pathways for Black and Latinx educators to move into school leadership. Under her leadership, the institute partners with districts, universities, and statewide coalitions to strengthen the pipeline of aspiring and early-career principals and to shape policy conditions that improve student outcomes.

Before founding the institute, Laura served in executive leadership roles in K–12 education policy and advocacy and founded and led a middle school in Los Angeles. She began her career as a teacher in Chicago Public Schools and later served as a high school English teacher and literacy coach in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Her work has consistently centered on strengthening instructional leadership and expanding opportunity for students who have historically been underserved.

Laura is co-author of “Increasing school leader diversity in a social justice context: Revisiting strategies for leadership preparation programs,” published in Leadership and Policy in Schools. She serves as a board member of the Loyola Marymount University School of Education Board of Visitors and as an executive committee member of the Black Equity Collective. She is the recipient of the Excellence in Educational Leadership Award and the Outstanding Educational Leader for Social Justice Award from Loyola Marymount University.

Laura earned a Bachelor of Arts in English/Rhetoric from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a master’s degree in Instructional Leadership in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership for Social Justice from Loyola Marymount University. She is a wife, mother, and resident of Los Angeles, California.