Piper Fellow:
Laura Magruder

She believes deeply in breaking the cycle of abuse, poverty, violence, and trauma to free women and children to live their best lives. She has lobbied for health and education legislation, advocated for youth, volunteered for the Foster Care Review Board at the state and county levels, and served on the Arizona Life Coalition. She serves on the Maricopa Regional Continuum of Care Committee, the Arizona Adverse Childhood Experiences Consortium Board, and was recently appointed to the Adoption Promotion Task Force.

Magruder plans to use her the Fellowship in a way that builds upon the momentum established during her experience as a Piper Trust ATLAS participant. As CEO, Magruder leverages resources every day for the families Maggie’s Place serves. She sees the Fellowship as an opportunity to leverage resources for personal growth and enhanced organizational health. Magruder will focus on executive coaching, a mix of processing and integrating new skills, and specifically developing the skills to advocate for systemic reforms in child-welfare policy and family well-being. She will attend the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities Executive Leadership Conference and the Prevent Child Abuse Conference—both with themes of systems level change focused on building resilient families. Maggie’s Place is embarking on two major organizational projects—one being longitudinal and in partnership with Notre Dame that will analyze the impact of maternity homes; the other, in partnership with the Health & Human Services Department’s Administration for Children and Families, will evaluate the impact of the aftercare model at Maggie’s Place and its impact on family self-sufficiency. Magruder believes her Fellowship will greatly complement and benefit this significant organizational work underway.