Lara specializes in grant writing, building community-based health initiatives, and developing partnerships. She is passionate about leveraging people, organizations, opportunities, and funding to address community health. For the last decade, Lara has led the Minneapolis Health Department's development and implementation of multi-project, multi-million dollar initiatives to increase healthy eating, opportunities for physical activity, and smoke-free living.
With her motto, "It never hurts to ask," Lara recently convened partnerships that have resulted in a Minneapolis ordinance to reduce youth access to tobacco and integration of community health workers in public housing.
Lara holds a BA in English and American literature from Carleton College and MPH in Health Behavior and Health Education from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Outside of work, Lara, her three sons, and husband love visiting national parks and biking.