Laura Cox Kaplan works as an adjunct professor at American University, and as a corporate and non-profit board director and adviser. She spends much of her time focused on women’s political engagement, leadership and empowerment, including collaborative efforts with partners in the private, public and non-profit space who are looking to address the various drivers that contribute to the lack of gender diversity, especially in elected office.

Frustrated by the narrow way in which women’s interests and political and civic engagement are often framed (as well as by the lack of women in senior positions in business and politics), Laura created the She Said, She Said podcast as a platform to showcase uniquely diverse voices of inspiring women who are making a difference.

Cox Kaplan frequently speaks before a range of audiences and writes a regular blog. She has been published in Fortune Magazine, The Huffington Post, World Economic Forum Blog, among others.

Previously, Cox Kaplan spent more than a decade on the executive management team of accounting and professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP (PwC), where she led PwC’s public policy and engagement strategy. Prior to joining the PwC partnership, Cox Kaplan served in senior positions at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where she focused on the legislative and regulatory response to corporate governance and accounting failures in the late 1990s, and on the implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. She spent almost 10 years on Capitol Hill as a senior communications strategist.

In 2016, Cox Kaplan received the Alice Paul Alumnae award from American University for her work on women’s political engagement. In 2015, Cox Kaplan was named one of Washingtonian Magazine’s 100 Most Powerful Women in Washington. In 2014, Cox Kaplan received a “Trailblazer Award” from the American Law Journal for her work in public and regulatory policy.

Cox Kaplan received a Master’s degree from American University in Washington, D.C. and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas in Austin.