Lara has over 20 years of senior leadership experience in public policy and communications. She is currently affiliated with the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.
Previously, she was co-founder and CEO of Ouano Foundation, supporting human rights defenders around the globe. She led community relations for Vancouver's longest-serving Mayor, guided efforts to address equity in urban planning and pandemic emergency response and was instrumental in the development of Culture Shift, the City of Vancouver's 2020-2029 cultural plan.
She believes that freedom of artistic and cultural expression is a fundamental human right and when she feels overwhelmed by the state of the world, Lara strives to “think not only about the enormity of the problem, but the enormity of the possibilities,” in the words of Ruth Wilson Gilmore.
