Chief Executive Officer, ClientEarth

Laura joined ClientEarth in September 2022, after two decades in public policy, and in diplomatic roles across Africa, Asia and Europe.

Laura was British High Commissioner to New Zealand, and Governor of the Pitcairn Islands, from 2018 to 2022, and High Commissioner to Samoa from 2018 to 2019. As British High Commissioner, she worked to strengthen the UK - New Zealand relationship, including through the negotiation of a standard-setting Free Trade Agreement, cooperation with New Zealand and the South Pacific during the UK’s COP26 Presidency, and work on international security. In her role as Governor of the Pitcairn Islands Laura was responsible for the governance and sustainability of the Islands, and efforts to maximize the benefits of its Marine Protected Area – the fourth largest in the world.

Previously, Laura had served as Head of the South Asia Department in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and Government Coordinator for India; Political Counsellor in Pretoria, South Africa; Chief of Staff to the Minister for Europe; and worked on Sudan, Yemen and EU Justice and Home Affairs. Her early career was spent in the British Parliament, as Group Co-ordinator of the All-Party Parliamentary Sustainable Waste Group, and in DG Enlargement of the European Commission.

Laura holds an MA in German and Russian from Cambridge University and a MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics.