Our Team
Laura Seraydarian,
Founder & CEO
Laura Seraydarian is a leader in the field of resilience with over a decade of experience working on resilience initiatives in South and Southeast Asia, Central America, the Caribbean, and at home in Boulder County. She is an expert in strategic development, participatory planning, complex problem solving, and leadership development.
Laura brings a unique, systems-level perspective with a background in both the physical and social sciences. The first 10 years of her career were spent as a hydrogeologist and licensed Professional Geologist (P.G.) working on water infrastructure, environmental monitoring/remediation, climate science, and coastal geomorphology. Her work in the field brought forward the systemic socio-political challenges hindering the human-environment continuum that were not being solved through science or engineering. This led to a series of work, across scales and geographies, aimed at 'bridging the gap' through the field of Resilience. Laura developed resilience strategies to address the uncertainties of climate change, natural disasters, and socio-politics and to enhance internal resilience in local government and community leadership. She specializes in bringing teams together and developing partnerships to facilitate resilience-building initiatives.
Since founding The Boulder Center for Resilience in 2015 (formerly Creative Vision Works), Laura has been heavily involved in the growth, development, and implementation of Boulder County and BoCo Strong’s work around community resilience. Laura also serves as a Growth & Resilience Coach to entrepreneurs, innovators, and those who desire to live big.
Select Projects
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The Livelihood Project: working to improve the livelihoods of women and girls in marginalized populations. The project focused on linking individuals and micro-project interventions to larger efforts in ASEAN countries.
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Program Evaluation: USAID Flash Flood Disaster Risk Reduction programming over a 20-year period in the Hindu-Kush-Himalayan region (HKH).
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Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN): a collaborative network of ten (10) pilot cities in South and Southeast Asia working to develop resilience strategies to address identified vulnerabilities and impacts from climate change.
Select Publications
Building Resilience in the Urban Water Sector, Indore, India.
Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network. Responding to the Urban Climate Challenge, South and Southeast Asia.
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Building Resilience in the Urban Water Sector, Indore, India.
Rachel Norton,
Resilience Associate
Dr. Rachel Norton has extensive experience conducting qualitative research and analysis in the fields of resilience, disaster risk reduction, community engagement, and leadership development. As a practitioner, Dr. Norton’s work includes facilitating resilience assessments and processes, building organizational and community capacity, and developing leadership programming. She draws on a variety of qualitative research methodologies and engagement tools to support learning and problem solving for community organizations, local governments, and individuals. She brings an understanding of the theories and frameworks within the field of resilience and a breadth of experience of practical application in Boulder County and greater Colorado.
For the past 3 years she has been working with The Boulder Center for Resilience as a researcher, facilitator, and a contributor to program design.
Select Projects
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Translating Resilience: A qualitative interview study of Hispanic Women and the Resort Service Industry in Colorado, Dissertation-University of Colorado Denver.
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Food, Energy and Water Security. Worked for University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.
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Colorado Health Equity Learning Series. Contracted to run focus groups for The Colorado Trust.
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Resilience Narratives. Worked for ISET. Funded by The Rockefeller Foundation.
Select Publications
A Call To Action
Interdependencies and Risk to People and Critical Food, Energy, and Water Systems
The Environmental Dimensions of Migration
A Call To Action
Genevieve Smith,
Data Ecosystem Expert
Genevieve Smith spends their time understanding how human-centered data cultures can support lasting social change. Their work supports nonprofits, INGOs, International Financial Institutions, investors, and corporations in designing and leveraging their data, systems, and knowledge management practices to optimize their mission delivery. Their holistic, equity-centric approach, called the Data Ecosystem Diagnostic, has supported many community-based organizations to unmake common nonprofit data 'messes' and to more effectively understand, demonstrate, and increase their positive social impact.
