Laura Swanson Bowser

Laura is the Founder and CEO of Vaud Consulting. Prior to her current role, Laura was the CEO of TMI Consulting, Inc. an award-winning diversity, equity and inclusion tech and consulting firm where she spent over seven years building DEI content and running large corporate DEI initiatives. During her tenure with TMI, Laura broke 1.1M+ in revenue for the first time in the company’s history, and the company was recognized as a Best for the World diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) solutions provider by B Lab (As featured in the New York Times).

Laura has a passion for creating social impact through business. Her career began in international relations, at a large multinational corporation in Beijing, China, where she worked in operations and procurement. Over the course of the next 14 years, Laura’s project management skills and political savvy were honed through positions in the Virginia House of Delegates, with a regional non-profit, and at management consulting firms. She has worked to support communities and organizations at all levels from local organizations, to national Fortune 500 companies.

As a facilitator and HR Consultant, Laura addresses the strategies and pitfalls of creating a work environment that generates innovation, productivity, and inclusiveness—talking about the real, hard choices that business leaders have to take, and how to communicate those decisions to boards, executive teams, and employees.  

Awards:

• Inaugural RVA Power Women Awards - Finalist for “Under 40.”

• ICON Finalist-Business Front Runner Award by The Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce (2019)

• B Corp’s Best for the World (2016 and 2018)

• “Most Outstanding Student” by L. Douglas Wilder’s School of Government and Public Affairs (2006)

Certifications:

• Capital One’s SAGE Advice (WBE) Program Graduate

• Certified Associate in Project Management through the Project Management Institute

• SHRM-SCP

• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt from Virginia Commonwealth School of Business

Appointments and Associations:

• Vice Chair of Data Friendly Space (2020-current)

• Member of Virginia Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Commission. Appointed by Governor Terry McAuliffe (July 2015-June 2023)

  • Chair of the Commission (2019-2022)

  • Vice Chair of the Commission (2017-2019)

  • Chair of the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Commission on the Dementia State Plan (2020-2024)

  • Member of the Virginia Dementia Friendly American Planning Committee (2018)

  • Member of the Governor's Family Caregiver Stakeholder Group (2017-2018)

  • Chair of the Nominations Committee (2017)

  • Member of the Legislative Subcommittee (July 2015-current)

  • Appointed to the Governor's Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services Work Group on Alzheimer's Assisted Living Waiver (2016)

• Board Member of Read to Them (2012 – 2022)

  • Secretary (September 2015 – April 2018)

  • Vice President (September 2013-September 2015)

  • Chairman of Fundraising Committee (2013-2014)

• Member Greater Richmond Chapter Alzheimer’s Association (2018-2020)

  • Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee (2018-2019)

• City of Richmond Commission Member to Richmond’s Living Wage Certification Program (2018-2020)

• COO of Burke-Paine Society (2018-2019)

• Member of Project Management Institute (Central Virginia Chapter) (2014 – Current)

• Member of SHRM Richmond (2018-current)

• Member of Richmond World Affairs Council (2012 – 2020)