National Leadership Program, Winter 2020
Laura Montilla was a Communications Fellow in RespectAbility’s National Leadership Program for Winter 2020. RespectAbility is a nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities so that people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community.
Montilla grew up on a farm in rural Mississippi before beginning her education at the University of Southern California where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Public Relations. From establishing nonprofits to steering strategy at couture houses, Montilla has cultivated a purpose-driven formulae that she now uses in the brand marketing and PR sphere. She’s worked for Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, Lancome, Rock the Vote, Slam Magazine and more. At the helm of the pop culture industry and social justice intersection is design-centered Montilla, steering brands toward tangible change. Her goal is to bring inclusion and diversity into every space through her storytelling and mobilizing abilities.
She started a non-profit called Vote4Me that advocates for those excluded from the US voting process. On social media, she has devoted herself fully to personal activism in fighting against social injustice. In her free time, she skateboards with her friends, surfs on the weekends and makes clothes with her grandma.
She was ecstatic and honored to join the RespectAbility team and contribute her skill-set to its important mission while learning more herself.