Meet Our Team

Laura Brown

Laura Brown brings 12 years of experience in food systems leadership and value chain coordination, most recently with Local Food Hub, a nonprofit organization based in Central Virginia that advances equity in fresh food consumption and production. An operating food hub for 10 years and now a standalone nonprofit organization, she served in multiple roles at Local Food Hub including Chief of Staff; managing wholesale transactions, procurement, and warehousing; and running marketing and communications. 

Most recently as Director of Community and Policy, Laura created and led a nutrition and health security program for low resource health clinic patients, where she worked closely with community leaders to design and implement a program that met the needs of the local community (see feature in Politico). She also led a coalition of local hunger relief organizations that are focused on elevating food equity in their value chains and improving fresh food access. In addition, Laura led the Eastern Food Hub Collaborative (EFC), a network of 15 food hubs in the East Coast that seek to enhance hub to hub transactions and bring more value to farmers in the network. The EFC represents more than 600 small family farms and more than $27M in annual sales. Prior to this work, Laura spent four years at USDA, serving in the National Farm-to-School Program, the Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, and Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan’s Know your Farmer, Know your Food Task Force. 

Laura holds a bachelor’s in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia. She currently serves as the Board Chair of a local nonprofit that promotes youth empowerment among underserved students through farm and equine experiences. Additionally, she participated in Soul Fire Farm’s Uprooting Racism training, an antiracism workshop for environmental and food justice leaders, as well as the 21 Day Racial Equity Challenge. Laura continues to engage with organizations that educate on methods for dismantling white supremacy in food systems, with an emphasis on elevating the voices of marginalized farmers and community members. Laura lives in Charlottesville, VA.