Laurie Williams George
Fort Worth
Laurie Williams George’s background is in education, with a master’s degree in teaching. She taught for 12 years before stepping away from public education to focus on her small business and raising three children. George’s middle child was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at age four, and she immersed herself in learning how best to meet his needs while also educating others about Autism. When her kids reached grade school, she realized how much work there was to be done to create an inclusive and equitable education for those with developmental disabilities. As a consultant for an executive search firm, George uses her unique perspective to help companies see the value in a diverse workforce.
Currently, she sits on the Tarrant County Advisory Board for IDEA Public Schools, the Advisory Council for The Fort Worth Report, a nonprofit news source, and her children’s elementary school PTA Board. Laurie is also the chair of the Party on the Patio Committee, Cook Children’s Health Foundation’s largest fundraiser supporting the Child Study Center, and she frequently writes for Fort Worth Moms on the topic of developmental and learning disabilities.
Laurie has been married to her husband for ten years, and together they have three children. She enjoys researching her latest interests, good wine, sewing, and traveling with her family in her spare time.
Project Title
Parent With Merit: Addressing the Information Gap in Diagnosis, Early Intervention and Public Education.
Project Description
George’s project acknowledges the competing interests of publicly funded institutions and parents seeking accessible diagnostic and intervention services. The project connects parents and caregivers with existing resources in the community via a partnership with Parent Pass, an app that delivers targeted information to parents based on their family profile. The partnership will address the “void” between suspecting a developmental concern and actual enrollment in intervention services by providing a timeline of electronically delivered one-pager info sheets. The info sheets will guide parents through a series of deliberate steps towards services, and completing the tasks assigned on each sheet will earn the parent a “Merit Badge,” a symbolic representation of a step forward on their journey to best serve their child’s developmental needs.
