LAURA DEPASQUALE, GRANTS MANAGEMENT & ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATION

Laura graduated from the Cooper Union in 2022, where she studied Fine Art, and joined Place Corps in 2023, as a Project Intern. Since then, she has worn many hats; as program coordinator, administrative assistant, and more recently grants manager (currently part-time, as she is also in graduate school). Place Corps’ schedule has allowed her to try new things each summer: in 2023 she interned at an art foundation, in 2024 she interned at TapRoot CLT–which is developing affordable housing in Kingston, and in 2025 she worked on a farm in Virginia called Potomac Vegetable Farms. 

Through her explorations she has been trying to understand how places (communities, organizations, and institutions) that prioritize people and relationships–over profit and competition–work, and how to create more of them. Because, as Jeremiah Moss writes in the book Vanishing New York: “When people are not working for just the rent, they can take risks; creatively, sexually, professionally, and politically. They can speak up. They can choose meaningful, often lower-paid work that helps others.” This interest has led her to Philadelphia, where she is currently studying City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania in order to build the skills to help create such places. 

Outside of work, one of the things that she is most proud of is an art critique group she started with two fellow artists, called Forever Jung Dream League which brought together a group of artists, writers, musicians, and avid readers to discuss Jungian psychology, analyze one another's dreams, and apply a Jungian lens to art interpretation.