Laura Close is CEO of Close Cohen, having founded the practice in 2013. She is currently CBDO and Co-founder of
Included AI-native software for People Analytics. After decades of coaching political candidates and senior level executives Laura’s pitch prowess became the driving force behind Included’s pre-seed and seed round venture capital raise, and secured the SXSW Innovation Award for Included before a panel of 8 judges at the festival. Laura also secured victory at Established’s Startup of the Year competition, and pitched through four international time zone rounds to arrive at Included’s hard won final four award in the global SHRM Better Workplaces competition.
Laura is a sought after thought leader and podcast guest on topics ranging from AI to case law and legal decisions relating to inclusion in the workplace. She was interviewed by Marketplace and the Wall Street Journal during the last session of the Supreme Court and flown to the national AWS re:Invent conference to speak on the implications of GenAI for increased accessibility in the workplace. Laura is a prolific writer and creator, and has hosted and filmed the HR Tech, What’s Working? LinkedIn Live podcast featuring leaders across Google, Microsoft and more.
Laura originated as a campaign strategy & policy expert, delivering state level victories and securing policy changes that benefited the lives of thousands of vulnerable citizens. Now co-founder of AI-native software Included Laura and team have created the first tech of its kind to use AI to help democratize HR data insights for business unit leaders and executives.
Laura applied her success in political campaign strategy to found Close Cohen, a global career development coaching practice serving executives, VPs, and C suite across Amazon, Apple, CISCO, and more. Clients working with Laura’s frameworks and methods secured incredible victories because it turns out – work is political – and a highly calibrated strategy delivers wins.
A serial entrepreneur and successful founder, Laura has limited availability to speak with founders on their most pressing leadership, revenue, and scaling challenges.
