Laura Bustard

While an undergraduate at Butler University, Laura participated in a ‘Quest for Community’ course and soon became involved with the Muslim Alliance of Indiana’s mobile food pantry, traveling to community centers across Indianapolis distributing food. This led to further research and involvement in the emergency food system throughout the city, including a survey conducted at the largest food pantry in Indianapolis, serving 1,000+ households a week.

After graduating, Laura moved to Madison and sought out ways to continue having a community focus in her life. This included living in a co-housing community, serving as a worker share on a CSA-farm, and driving weekly food rescue operations to Lussier Education Community Center. She is excited to be pursuing a Master’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning to continue her learning journey of sustainable agriculture, cooperative business models, and food systems. Laura holds a Bachelor’s degree from Butler University in Actuarial Science with High Honors, with minors in Mathematics and Business Administration. She holds a Fellowship from the Society of Actuaries (FSA) and is a Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst (CERA) accredited by both the Society of Actuaries and the Casualty Actuarial Society. She serves as a Member on the Enterprise Risk Management Syllabus Committee and is a Member on the task force Actuaries for Sustainable Health Care.

Her interests include traveling, cooking, reading, running, and frequent visits to the dog park.