Laura McFarland

Program Manager

As the newest member of WSN’s staff, Laura is thrilled to bring her background in natural resource management and environmental justice to an organization that recognizes relationship-building as central to this work. She is passionate about working across differences to foster collaborative, sustainable relationships between people and places. 

Before joining WSN, Laura was a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs, a full-time fellowship for emerging leaders focused on fostering a thriving democracy. As a Coro Fellow, she worked across government, nonprofit, labor, and private sectors and studied policy issues ranging from housing to agriculture to public finance in California.

Laura’s 5 years of experience span nonprofit program development, partnership management, event planning, environmental advocacy, and agriculture. Prior to joining the Coro Fellows program, Laura worked in corporate social responsibility at the San Francisco-based nonprofit HandsOn Bay Area, where she coordinated events for thousands of volunteers and managed relationships with 150 community organizations across California, Washington, and Texas. She has also worked on a regenerative farm in Santa Cruz and on cattle and dairy farms across Australia and New Zealand, experiences that shaped her appreciation for sustainable land management. 

Born and raised in the Bay Area, Laura holds a B.S. in Society & Environment with a concentration in Environmental Justice from UC Berkeley. In her free time, you can find her hiking in the Sierra Nevada, writing for the travel magazine Travel Lemming, chatting with farmers at local markets, and eating as many peaches as she can get her hands on.