Lara has been a planner since 2015 and joined the Sa̱nala team in 2023 as a Project Manager. She has worked on a wide range of planning and engagement projects with First Nations, Indigenous organizations, and non-profits in the sectors of health, social planning, child care planning, and poverty reduction. She also loves a juicy strategic or organizational planning process! Lara holds a Masters of Community and Regional Planning with a concentration in Indigenous Community Planning from UBC and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English Literature and Psychology from Queen’s University.

As Director of Operations since early 2024, Lara leads the operations team on all aspects of Sa̱nala’s operations, from finance to human resources to IT to project management. She loves bringing her planning skills to the internal workings of Sa̱nala, and strives to run smooth and effective operations that clear the way for Sa̱nala’s client work to get done easefully. Alongside her work with the Sa̱nala team, Lara is busy living the ultimate cat lady lifestyle, gardening, making art, learning Arabic, and planning her next trip to Egypt.