About

Laura Young is a values-driven professional with 30+ years of experience advancing the mission of organizations as a consultant, senior executive and philanthropic advisor to nonprofit organizations, individuals, families, corporations and foundations. She is relationship-oriented with a passion for making a difference by helping people and organizations be their best and maximize their impact.

She is experienced as both a funder and a fundraiser. For 18 years, Laura was vice president of philanthropy at the Maine Community Foundation overseeing the statewide organization’s advancement and communications/marketing efforts. She and her team annually brought in $40 - $60 million to help strengthen Maine. Laura is a strategic thinker and great listener. In addition to strategizing with philanthropic donors to help them fulfill their charitable goals through the community foundation, Laura launched campaigns with community volunteers to successfully build permanent county funds throughout the state and provided fundraising counseling to land trusts and other nonprofit organizations to help them build new organizational endowment funds. Laura was also an active member of the Amelia’s Group which consisted of vice presidents of philanthropy for the largest community foundations in the nation to collectively research and discuss best practices in fundraising and donor engagement. 

Prior to her time at the Maine Community Foundation, Laura was senior vice president at Demont Associates. For nearly 10 years, she provided on-site capital campaign counsel and associate supervision and was integral to setting the company’s high standards for planning studies, institutional assessments, and capital campaign counsel. Laura’s unique and valuable perspective has developed through her experiences on a wide array of local and national campaigns. 

Currently, Laura serves as a Senior Associate with Demont Associates to provide capital campaign planning and direction to clients throughout New England. She is a Senior Advisor at Capital Campaign Pro, a support system that empowers nonprofit leaders through expert guidance, peer support, and the tools they need for a successful campaign. Laura also works with Good Group Decisions as a facilitator to help groups make good decisions.

During the first seven years of Laura’s career, she worked on campaigns and donor development strategies on a national political level in Washington, D.C. with Senator George Mitchell and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. 

Laura is a graduate and former Trustee of Bates College and awarded Distinguished Young Alum. She serves as Vice Chair of the Board of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Maine, and is former President and an active Portland Rotarian. Laura previously served as Assistant District Governor of Rotary District 7780, Board member for the Center for Grieving Children, and Board member of the Association of Fundraising Executives Northern New England Chapter.