Laura S. Bogardus, Ph.D., SHRM, SCP, currently serves as Interim Executive Director of Upstate International (UI). She is co-president of Side by Side Strategies, LLC, an organizational strategy consulting firm. In her role as Associate Director with Clemson University’s Addiction and Mental Health Research Center, she manages and provides opioid use disorder abatement technical assistance and community planning assistance throughout South Carolina. She teaches non-profit management at Converse College.
Laura has significant experience as an organizational strategist and change facilitator in the nonprofit, private, and public sectors, with expertise in leveraging systems change theory to help clients build relational engagement and address challenges at their roots. She is an active supporter of the nonprofit community and has served on the boards of Upstate International, Greenville Society for Human Resource Management, and Greenville Family Partnership.
A distinguished Marano Fellow of the Aspen Institute’s Sector Skills Academy for Innovative Workforce Strategies, Laura is also a Certified Senior Human Resource Professional (SHRM-SCP), a ProsciR Certified Change Management Practitioner, and is formally trained in the process of civil mediation.
Laura earned her Ph.D. in International Family and Community Studies from Clemson University, an M.A. in Human Behavior and Conflict Management from Columbia College, and a B.A. in Political Science from Miami University. As a doctoral student, she was the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Excellence in Engagement and Social Advocacy Graduate Student Award; the Kimbrough and Melton Parents Award; and the Graduate Student Award of Excellence. Laura’s research and policy interests include fair employment practices, workforce inclusion, re-entry, and recovery-friendly workplaces.