Our Work Starts with Relationships

We believe meaningful change begins with connection. By partnering closely with your team and community, we uncover insights, foster learning, and support strategies that create lasting impact. Every engagement is grounded in trust, curiosity, and reflection.

Meet Laura Richards

Hi, I’m Laura. I help nonprofits and philanthropic organizations turn evaluation into learning that strengthens programs, deepens impact, and advances equity.

With nearly 15 years of experience, I bring a holistic, equity-centered approach that bridges strategy, insight, and real-world application.

My Values in Practice

These values ensure that every evaluation and learning process is not only effective but also equitable, reflective, and human-centered.

  • We embrace generative tension to challenge biases and assumptions. Reflection and curiosity are central, helping teams turn insights into action.

  • We center diverse perspectives and pay attention to intersectionality. Everyone has space to show up authentically and feel heard and respected.

  • We iterate as insights emerge, adjusting practices while staying aligned with the partnership’s core purpose and goals.

  • We honor the whole person, not just the role. Structured yet flexible containers foster trust, well-being, and open communication.

Ready to Transform Your Learning?

If you’re a nonprofit, foundation, or social enterprise ready to embed learning, reflection, and equity into your work, let’s start a conversation.

Our work starts with relationships.

So let me introduce myself

I grew up in the suburbs of Grand Rapids, MI, the only child of a therapist and a math professor - a combination that naturally drew me toward evaluation. Being an only child taught me keen observation and listening skills, which remain central to my work today.

I earned by BA in Women’s and Gender studies from Beloit College, where my commitment to social impact took root. I went on to complete a Master’s in Social Work at the University of Michigan, originally planning to focus on sexual assault prevention and policy. In my final semester, I discovered evaluation and immediately saw it as a way to apply analytical skills to serve the communities I care about, always through a social work lens.

After graduate school, I joined the University of Michigan School of Social Work to help build community-based evaluation programs and train graduate students. There, I learned the nuances of working with complex institutions while keeping community priorities at the center, a commitment that still shapes my work today.

 

I then gained firsthand experience as an internal evaluator and development staff member at a small nonprofit, seeing up close how organizations operate and what truly supports their impact. In 2017, I moved to Denver to join an evaluation consulting firm, where I strengthened my expertise in systems-level evaluation and learning facilitation in complex environments.

All of these experiences shaped Illuminary Perspectives, where we place learning at the heart of our practice to strengthen and elevate social change work.

I currently live in Long Beach, CA with my husband. I love to travel whenever I can, preferably to new and warm places, and I’m always seeking new perspectives to inform my work.

Outside of evaluation, I spend my time staying active and enjoying the beautiful weather and landscapes that California has to offer, practicing yoga and meditation, going on walks, and experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen.