Blog

This is part of a series introducing our board members and the roles they play. Stay tuned for more Board spotlights next month.

The newest member to join our board is Laura Holmes, an entrepreneur with a passion for building software products and fostering happy teams. She’s the CEO and founder of Wanderly, a story-led educational app for 3-8-year-old children using generative Artificial Intelligence.

Over the past eight years, Laura has dedicated herself to the convergence of education and equity. She kickstarted her journey by founding Grasshopper, a mobile-first coding education platform that reached out to students from underrepresented backgrounds. Later, she took on a leadership role in Google’s AI for Education portfolio including projects focused on improving literacy and mastery learning. During her 13-year tenure at Google, she shepherded numerous products from inception to successful launch.

Laura is a California native and lives in Oakland. She earned her B.S. in Computer Science at Stanford University and grew up surrounded by good books. Growing up in a mixed-race household in a rural town made Laura passionate about diversity and inclusion. She attended public schools in Contra Costa County, and is excited for her two young daughters to attend school at OUSD. Her eldest daughter is currently enjoying Kindergarten at Hillcrest Elementary.

Laura has joined the OLC board to connect and uplift the Oakland community through a shared love of great stories and literacy. During her first month on the board, she’s been impressed with the OLC’s breadth of impact and self-accountability. 

“Every meeting is filled with thoughtful analysis,” Laura said. “And there’s a real camaraderie between board members and the staff of the OLC.”