About Laura

Laura Lambkin is a strategist and community builder with more than 20 years of management consulting experience helping clients develop lasting solutions to challenging problems. Her portfolio includes topics ranging from hazardous spill response to habitat conservation to health IT.

Starting in 2012, Laura helped the Department of Defense stand up the Program Executive Office, Defense Health Management Systems (PEO DHMS) and associated program offices as they worked to acquire and deliver a modern electronic health record system. She provided program management support as well as leading the strategic communications team. Challenge: In a program with this many players, messaging can easily get out of sync. Solution: Laura established a routine communications cadence in order to effectively align and manage strategic messaging across the enterprise by including partners within Defense Health Agency (DHA), Federal Electronic Health Record Modernization (FEHRM) program office, US Coast Guard, and Veterans Affairs.

Prior to entering the field of health IT, Laura’s work focused on ecological conservation. She led two communications teams for two distinct line offices within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Challenge: The NOAA Restoration Center needed a digital asset management solution for restoration project photos but could not afford the desired software. Solution: Laura approached peers in the aquaculture program, protected resources program, office of coastal management, and NOAA headquarters to pool funding and share the desired IT solution.

Early in her career, Laura worked as an analyst and project manager for the Naval Air Station (NAS), Patuxent River Operational and Environmental Planning team. Challenge: Chesapeake Bay area residents were reporting noise incidents to the NAS noise hotline that were not the result of NAS aircraft or testing activities. Solution: Laura formed a cross-service noise management team and organized a series of noise management workshops that enabled area Army and Navy installations to effectively manage noise impacts.

Laura holds a bachelor’s degree in history from James Madison University and a master’s in natural resources from Virginia Tech. She also earned a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt from Dartmouth.

Career Highlights

• Ward Circle Strategies, Director
• Axiom Resource Management, Deputy Program Manager
• Society for Conservation Biology, Membership Manager
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (contractor), Communcations Team Lead
• Ecosystem Management & Associates, Analyst / Technical Writer

3 Fun Facts

• Trained and practiced as a part-time massage therapist. Love this very grounding work!
• Travelled to 47 US states, all but three of them via road trips. Montana, Idaho, and Alaska are still on the list.
• Will never again live in a house we’re actively renovating. It’s not nearly as fun (or fast) as we imagined!