Laura Martin serves as Associate Director of the Grisham-McLean Institute for Public Service and Community Engagement, a center at the University of Mississippi that fights poverty through education, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Laura engages faculty, staff, students, and community partners in mutually beneficial efforts to improve quality of life in Mississippi. She directs M Partner, a university-wide community engagement initiative that aligns community priorities with university resources, and guides implementation of the North Mississippi VISTA Project, a national service program focused on poverty alleviation, capacity building, sustainable solutions, and community empowerment.
Research Interests
Impact of community engagement on community partner organizations, anchor mission in higher education, civic identity development among students and national service participants
Biography
Laura Martin brings over 20 years of experience working on poverty alleviation programs at the grassroots and public policy levels. After college, she facilitated service-learning trips and managed a community development project in rural Nicaragua. In Texas, Laura completed a year of AmeriCorps service with Casa Marianella, worked as a policy analyst with the ACLU of Texas and the Texas Association of Community Health Centers, and served as Legislative Director for State Representative Armando Walle. At the Grisham-McLean Institute, Laura works to engage faculty, staff, students, and community partners in mutually beneficial efforts to improve quality of life in Mississippi. She directs M Partner, a university-wide community engagement initiative, and guides implementation of programmatic initiatives housed at the Institute to ensure that they are advancing the mission of fighting poverty through education, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Laura holds dual undergraduate degrees in Hispanic Studies and International Relations from Brown University, where she graduated with honors. Additionally, she holds a Master of Public Affairs degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed a Portfolio Program in Nonprofit and Philanthropic Studies, and a Doctorate of Higher Education from the University of Mississippi.
Education
MPA Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin (2009)
Ph.D. Higher Education, The University of Mississippi (2021)