April 2026 Team Member Spotlight: Laura Boche

Next up in our Team Member Spotlight series, we’re proud to feature Laura Boche.

Laura brings deep experience across philanthropy, state systems, and institutional partnerships...and a passion for hands-on, capacity-building work.

Q: Describe your transition to the SRS team over the past few months.

It started off really fast-paced with a quick trip to Indianapolis to connect with the entire team. I really appreciated that opportunity to spend time in-person with everyone. Not only did SRS hire two new folks to the team, we also launched a new tool to help us manage projects and developed some deeper infrastructure to help support the organization as it continues to grow.

On the project side, I jumped right in - leading the GEAR UP North Carolina Appalachian Partnership work, including facilitating the Student Journey Mapping workshop in early March. When I started, I secretly hoped to contribute to the SHEEO Constellation of Support project I supported during my time at ECMC Foundation, where SRS is providing capacity-building technical assistance to Nevada and Washington around credit for prior learning (CPL). Since then, I’ve had the chance to do just that - I just wrapped up a CPL policy scan for Washington and am preparing to provide state-level technical assistance to Nevada. I’ll also be heading out to Washington in a few weeks for the second workshop of the project.What began as a fast-paced start has now settled into a steady rhythm, and I’m feeling really excited about the work ahead!

What are you most excited about with your work at SRS so far?

Outside of knowing several of the fabulous SRS team members prior to joining the team, one of the main reasons I made the leap from the postsecondary funding world to SRS was that I missed being directly involved in the impactful work I was supporting. I missed designing technical assistance, workshops, and engaging with institutions, states, and systems to help build their capacity.

So, that’s what precisely excites me about my work - being back in partnership with institutions, states, and systems in a more “hands-on” way. I’ve already been able to engage in this work with a few projects, and I’m really looking forward to continuing and deepening that work.

Q: Describe the immediate impact you hope to make with clients and partners.

I’ve seen firsthand (from a variety of perspectives) how challenging capacity constraints can be - whether related to time, staffing, funding, or other barriers. My goal is to help build capacity so that institutions, states, and systems can achieve their short- and long-term goals.In the more immediate term, I hope to have the kind of impact where clients and partners truly feel I took something off their proverbial “plate” and where I was able to show up as a thought partner to help clients find paths and strategies toward their goals.Long term, I think those experiences will compound through strong collaboration and support. What once felt like limited capacity will generate more momentum field-wide.…and explain how it supports the long-term goals.

Q: What is one lesson you’ve learned or experienced with current projects that more people in education should understand?…and how should that lesson shape what we do next?

Do not underestimate the power of collaboration and connection! This is something we all likely know and value, but particularly working with the GEAR UP NC Appalachian Partnership, collaboration often takes intentionality and infrastructure and I am so excited to be working closer with that team to help connect teams from the K-12 space to their higher education partners to develop more coordination around the experiences and eventual outcomes of GEAR UP students.…and how should that lesson shape what we do next? I think the power of connection and collaboration can prompt us at SRS (and the field more broadly—I’m looking mostly at you, postsecondary funders) to think about meaningful ways we can create spaces where we are able to share and learn from each other. Where there was once competition or siloization (is that a word? Yes it is, I just looked it up 🙂), now thought partnership and collaboration are encouraged and even fostered.

"Laura has jumped right in and is already making a strong impact across her projects. She brings a creative perspective to the work, consistently identifying new ways to engage clients and support them in achieving their goals. Her diverse background in higher education—spanning institutional, state, and national philanthropic roles—shapes her thoughtful and dynamic approach. Notably, she recently planned and facilitated a successful student journey mapping workshop, which introduced a new service offering for SRS."

— Dr. Abbey Ivey, Vice President for Postsecondary Strategy

We’re excited to have Laura on the team and to see her continued impact across our partnerships.

Connect with her on LinkedIn.