Laura Steffen

Laura grew up on the east coast in Salisbury, Maryland and attended a boarding high school in Middletown, Delaware called St. Andrew’s School. Her mother is from Madrid, Spain and, therefore, she grew up in a bilingual home. Laura earned her B.A. in English Literature at the University of Oregon in 1996. Having also taken college courses at UCLA, University of New Mexico, University of Maryland College Park, and the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, she is a good resource on many different college environments and experiences. After completing her undergraduate studies, Laura went on to earn her M.A. in Spanish Language and Literature from Middlebury College in Vermont in 1999. The final year of her master’s program was spent completing her studies on the Middlebury campus in Madrid, Spain.

Laura became a high school Spanish teacher, field hockey and lacrosse coach, and student advisor in the fall of 1999. She spent seven years working with high school students at Fountain Valley School and Kent Denver School. Laura then served as the Director of a Latino Initiative at Junior Achievement in Denver matching Latino leaders in the community as volunteers to teach Latino elementary, middle, and high school students in the Denver metro area about financial literacy. Finally, Laura supported Daniels Scholars from 2007 to 2021 and often used her Spanish-speaking abilities to support the Spanish–speaking families of the Daniels Scholars.