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Michael: What excites you most about the work you're doing now with WA+TS? Laura: WA+TS is really about scaling impact. Earlier in my career I worked on composting initiatives locally in New York and later helped grow programs nationally, which showed me that many organizations wanted to reduce waste but lacked the tools or data to do it effectively. The idea for WA+TS actually started when my sister, who has a computer science background, built a simple database to help organize the waste data we were tracking across projects. That early system evolved into the platform we have today, allowing organizations to track waste across multiple sites, understand where those materials are going, and identify opportunities to reduce their environmental footprint. Michael: What were some of the biggest challenges you faced early in your career, and what helped you push through them? Laura: In earlier companies that I helped build, we didn't have investors; more recently, having investors introduced a different kind of pressure. At times I realized I was operating in ways that didn't fully align with my values or the kind of culture I want to be a part of. That forced me to take a step back and reflect on my behavior as a leader. If our mission is to make the world a better place, the way we run the company must also reflect that, which is why we are continuously focused on creating a positive, values-driven culture that balances priorities and pressure. Michael: What has been one of the most rewarding moments in your career so far? Laura: Early in my career, I worked with a commercial waste company that was investing in growing their compost collection, so I floated the idea for them to run a pilot program collecting compost from four schools on the Upper West Side. After persuading the hauler to donate three months of service, we were able to test the program and prove that school composting could work. That small pilot ultimately helped demonstrate the viability of composting in NYC Public schools, and, not long after, New York City began launching composting initiatives across the school system. Seeing how a small idea and a lot of persistence could spark something much larger was incredibly rewarding. Michael: What changes do you hope to see in how businesses and communities think about waste in the future? Laura: The biggest shift I hope to see is people recognizing that what we may call waste can often be a resource for someone or something else. For example, if they're handled correctly, food materials that today end up in landfills can become compost, renewable energy, or new products. The goal is to keep resources circulating in the economy, rather than burying or burning them. We sometimes joke that our company name includes the word "waste," A portrait of Laura from a 2020 profile in Medium. 68 / TREVOR MAGAZINE SUMMER 2025–26

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