Laura Howe

Laura developed and teaches Older Voices Online, a digital advocacy course for people over 50. She received funding for Older Voices Online from the Community Foundation for Ireland and runs the course in collaboration with An Cosán in West Tallaght. She also teaches digital skills to people who have been affected by mental health difficulties at Threshold Training Network in Tallaght.

She is also working on Voidstarter, a project that aims to use vacant housing as temporary learning spaces and entrepreneurship labs. Voidstarter was one of the winners on the 2014 European Social Innovation Competition.

In 2014 Laura moved back to Dublin from Wales, where she lived for 6 years. During that time she worked for the George Ewart Evans Centre for Storytelling on the Communities 2.0 national digital inclusion initiative, helping communities in Wales to benefit from getting online. This work included delivering digital inclusion training to community organisations, housing associations and social enterprises.

She was co-director of Ark-Lab, a social design agency which works with councils and other organisations on projects around public participation and engagement and the co-design of services. She also organised projects around empty shops, alternative community education and art and cycling as a member of the social design network ThinkARK.

Laura has a BSc. in Communications from Dublin Institute of Technology, a B.Des in Production Design from the Institute Of Art, Design and Technology Dun Laoghaire and a City & Guilds Level 3 qualification in Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector. In November 2014 she completed the Menter Iontach Nua/DCU Ryan Academy Social Enterprise startup program.