Margaret Laws

Margaret Laws has distinguished herself as a catalytic leader in health care, forging cross-sector partnerships that drive positive social impact. At Hopelab, Laws leads a multidisciplinary team with expertise in behavioral science, user-centered design and partnership with innovators to create technology products to improve the health and well-being of teens and young adults. She is passionate about bringing together government, nonprofit and private-sector stakeholders interested in advancing the role technology can play in supporting and improving health outcomes, with a particular focus on improving care for underserved populations. In 2020, Hopelab launched an external investments practice, investing in companies focused on mental health and well-being of teens and young adults and the health of LGBTQ+ youth.

Prior to HopeLab, Laws spent 17 years at the California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF) as Director of Public Financing and Policy and Director of the Innovations for the Underserved program. She also founded the CHCF Health Innovation Fund, a mission-focused investment fund supporting companies that improve access to and lower costs of health care. The Fund, launched in 2010, has now made investments in 11 early-stage health care technology and services companies. Earlier in her career, Laws worked in management consulting with Accenture, in international health with the World Health Organization’s Global Programme on AIDS, and in state government with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Laws holds a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and an AB in English Literature from Princeton University. She serves on the boards of Health Leads and Project Glimmer and as an adviser to the Acumen America Fund, Omidyar Network, and Peer Health Exchange as well as a number of early-stage health care services and technology companies. She is a lecturer in management at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.