Laura Merriam is President of Pike Island Group, a consulting firm specializing in communications management, writing and strategic market positioning for business, public and nonprofit organizations. Prior to that, she was the Executive Director of the French American Chamber of Commerce, Minneapolis/St. Paul Chapter, was the Director of Investor Relations for St. Jude Medical, and served as Vice President of Tunheim Santrizos and Head of Investor Relations for Cray Research, Inc.
Laura is on the board of ArtSage and the Minnesota Bach Ensemble. She is a former board member of the Minnesota International Center, a trustee for the Michelson Family Foundation and chair of the Havel Committee on Civil Society.
Laura currently tutors immigrants with the Minneapolis Public Schools and sings in the Motet Choir at House of Hope Presbyterian Church. Laura has a lifelong interest and passion for wilderness conservation and the National Park System and comes from a family of national park supporters. Her father, Lawrence C. Merriam, was on the national board of NPCA in the 1970s, her grandfather was Superintendent of Yosemite National Park and NPS Western Regional Director, and her great-grandfather founded the Save the Redwoods League in 1918. Laura has a B.A. in French and Spanish from the University of Minnesota and a Master’s Degree from the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.