Laura Cansicio
Laura drives fundraising and donor relations strategies to broaden WomenStrong’s visibility and relevancy while strengthening the organization’s financial sustainability.
Laura Cansicio is an experienced non-profit development executive, former diplomat, mom, and community leader based in Atlanta. She is an expert in multi-channel $MM fundraising, partnership strategies, building teams, and producing winning proposals. Laura began a new journey as Chief Development Officer for WomenStrong International on December 1, 2023.
For close to two decades, Laura has worked to inspire and equip government, corporate, and foundation leaders to come together with non-profits to leverage their talent and resources to help solve issues related to violence against women and to address gaps in basic needs (e.g., in water, food, shelter, technology, and education).
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Laura joined the global emergency response non-profit CORE, co-founded by Sean Penn and Ann Lee, where she built a fundraising department with a $65M annual goal to support CORE’s rapid expansion and then ongoing global humanitarian relief operations. CORE delivered equitable vaccine distribution, testing, contact tracing, and resource mobilization primarily to BIPOC communities across the U.S., including Los Angeles, Oakland, New Orleans, Atlanta, Chicago, the Navajo Nation, and Washington, D.C. CORE saved millions of lives during the pandemic, especially those in communities typically left behind.
Her previous experience includes working for a member of Congress, serving as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. State Department, and working at several large international NGOs (i.e., Atlanta Habitat for Humanity, CARE USA, RTI International).
Laura is originally from San Diego, California, graduated with honors from Mount Saint Mary’s University, and holds a Master’s in Public Administration from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. Laura also provides coaching in fundraising and is happy to mentor professionals in the development and non-profit space.
The fastest way to connect to Laura is via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-c-4384114/