Laura Tota
Laura Tota, Senior Program Manager, is the newest addition to the ECLC Team. Before joining ECLC, Laura was, for many years, a Senior Design Associate at the Center for Collaborative Education—where she was also a key ECLC collaborator.
Laura’s new role at ECLC will focus on coaching and programmatic offerings--and as many in the community will attest, her presence is both grounding and energizing. Laura is an education consultant who partners with schools that are seeking to increase educational equity. She is passionate about curating personalized, professional learning experiences driven by educators’ own articulation of their vision for schools and learning.
As the Essex County Learning Community Senior Program Manager, Laura oversees the design and implementation of the annual curriculum map and the learning community’s coaching model. Laura entered the field of education from a background in sociology where she developed a passion around the intersections between schools and other social institutions.
Laura believes that schools and educators have the power to positively impact social change, and that they thrive in doing so when they have a partner who encourages their internal capacity and connects them to the necessary resources. Before joining the ECLC, Laura served as a Senior Associate in District and School Design with the Center for Collaborative Education where she supported schools through the visioning, design, and implementation processes of a variety of pursuits including personalized (student-centered) learning, professional learning communities, performance assessment, internships, and vision of the graduate/whole school (re)design. Previously, Laura worked with the Harvard Family Research Project where she supported schools in strengthening partnerships with families and communities, and with the Worcester Youth Opportunities Office where she bridged connections between schools and community organizations to create meaningful out-of-school learning opportunities for students.
Laura holds a Master of Education in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
