Laura M. Born

Laura M. Born is an Adjunct Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where she has taught since 2007. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of ezCater, where she is the Audit Committee Chair, and has been appointed to the Independent Oversight Advisory Committee of the United Nations World Food Programme, the world’s largest humanitarian organization.

From 2007 to 2021, Ms. Born served as a Trustee and as Chair for 10 years of the Columbia Acorn Trust, overseeing active equity mutual funds. She also served on the Advisory Board of Driehaus Capital Management, an active equity investment firm, from 2018 to 2020.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Born had an 18-year tenure in financial services, primarily as an investment banker at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York and Chicago. At JPMorgan, she specialized in equity capital markets, high-yield debt, leveraged finance, and mergers and acquisitions.

Ms. Born’s relationship with Carlson began during her time at JPMorgan, where she advised the company on major strategic transactions, including the sale of the Thomas Cook Group, the acquisition of a 25% stake in the Rezidor Hotel Group, and the acquisition of Navigant International by Carlson Worldwide Travel. She subsequently joined the Board of Directors of Carlson Worldwide Travel from 2013 to 2014 and has been a member of the Carlson Inc. Board since 2015, where she serves as Audit Committee Chair.

Ms. Born holds a Bachelor’s degree from Duke University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and Extraordinary Women on Boards, a community of board-ready women leaders and part of the NYSE Diversity Initiative.

Passionate about education and community service, Ms. Born has supported numerous K-8 public education initiatives in her local school district and served for 15 years on the Board of Directors of the Infant Welfare Society of Evanston.