Laurel Parker West

Interim Executive Director

Dr. Laurel Parker West is a leader in social impact philanthropy and nonprofit change management. She most recently served as Chief Program & Operations Officer, as well as Interim CEO, at Good+Foundation, a national nonprofit working to dismantle multi-generational poverty by pairing tangible goods with innovative services for under-resourced families. She was the Executive Director of the Women’s Fund of Long Island and before that, the Wyoming Women’s Foundation, where she led grantmaking and programming to support the long-term economic security of women and girls. Laurel also directed the Center for Justice Research at the University of Wyoming for four years where she focused on the intersection of family well-being and the criminal justice system. She has a PhD in Political Science from Emory and studied Government & Psychology at Wesleyan. She has held many different social justice leadership and research positions throughout her career and has conducted numerous studies on and taught courses on early education policy, economic and community development, and antipoverty policymaking.