Laura sitting at a desk

I grew up in New York, raised by a nurse and a businessman. In me, you see a part of each of them—a strong business woman, and a person deeply devoted to helping others. I have always felt a longing to give back and help others.

While I was in high school, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. Seeing the people of their city suffering, I felt I had to do something. I helped to organize a community service trip to Louisiana with some fellow classmates.

Seeing the devastation in New Orleans firsthand was shocking to me. I couldn’t believe how unaware our country was of the suffering taking place on our own soil. I decided to rescind my acceptance to University, and spent a year after high school serving our country with the federal National Service program AmeriCorps NCCC—the domestic Peace Corps.

During my time in AmeriCorps, I fed and clothed the hungry and homeless during the holidays at the Sacramento food bank; taught geometry in an inner-city Los Angeles high school; built homes for needy families with Habitat For Humanity in Louisiana; and helped the victims of Southern California’s wildfires to rebuild their lives. 

After AmeriCorps, I went to UC Berkeley and studied at their Haas School of Business. Berkeley had always been my dream school—it had a reputation for being the most diverse and public service-oriented University in the world. Green and determined, upon graduation I headed off to San Francisco to work at one of the “Big Four”accounting firms. In my time there, I saw how commonplace it was for corporations to give gifts to their employees, clients, business partners and leads. Most of these gifts were just throwaways and ended up in a junk drawer.


They were never meaningful or thoughtful, just cheesy novelty products with a corporate logo on it. Additionally, in my own gift giving efforts, I struggled to find products that had meaning and aligned with my personal values. While gift-giving is about so much more than transactional exchange, giving a quality, personalized gift was difficult and time consuming.

Watch Laura's feature on NBC's Today Show

On my travels around the world, I discovered beautiful goods that were made by charities and cause-based enterprises. I wanted to help them to increase their reach and improve their impact, so I applied to the USC Marshall School of Business’ Social Entrepreneurship program. During my time in business school, I decided to create an e-commerce brand that serves companies and professionals with useful and meaningful gifting options, while also driving revenue to impactful social causes. At Gifts For Good, our goal is to simplify gift giving. Our team curates premium business gifts that are customized for each of our clients’ unique values, interests, industry and needs. We believe in what we offer. All of our gifts are high-quality goods that people will love to give and receive. Plus, when you purchase a gift on our site, you can support over 70 charities and social enterprises in 50 states and 72 countries who are helping to tackle our world’s most pressing social, economic and environmental challenges. Together with our customers, we’re transforming everyday purchases into a force for good around the world.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Laura's Signature