Meet Lara,

one of our Managing Partners.

Lara Jakubowski (she/her) is a veteran leader in the social sector, with roots in community development finance and nonprofit capacity building. Her career has been inspired by the people and organizations committed to addressing income inequality. She focuses her client work on solutions that are evidence-based, practical, and sustainable. Lara meets clients where they are and leverages her experiences as a nonprofit Executive Director, lender to affordable housing developers, convener of nonprofits in shared spaces and shared services, Board Member, and technical assistance provider to build client impact.

Lara enjoys messy, complicated problems and seeing them through to completion. She loves the challenge of consulting and welcomes clients of all sizes and types because there is a learning opportunity in every engagement. She believes in leaving clients with tools and practices they will incorporate in their work long after the engagement is complete.

Prior to joining La Piana in 2017, Lara served as executive director of the Nonprofit Centers Network, where she also held the position of national programs director. She has also been the principal of her own nonprofit management consultancy and was executive director at Impact Development Fund where she doubled the assets under management. She currently serves as a lecturer in nonprofit financial management at the University of Colorado at Denver’s School of Public Affairs.

Impact Approach	Lara loves the process of analyzing client needs, especially when that process takes unexpected turns. She works collaboratively to help her clients surface the best solutions to the issues that challenge them. She enjoys opportunities to help nonprofits work together for greater strategic impact.
Education	University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business – M.B.A., Real Estate University of Pennsylvania ‒ B.A., Economics
Select Clients	Select Publications
Better Together Fund Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Catholic Charities of Rochester Center for Investigative Reporting Colorado Access Colorado Media Project Council on Foundations Santa Barbara Foundation Swallow Hill Music Urban Land Conservancy	Strategy is Back in Style It’s a New Day for Mergers (and Non-Merger Mergers) 25th Anniversary Interview: Kathleen Enright, Council on Foundations and Ann Mei Chang, Candid Trends in Nonprofit Mergers: Part 1 Trends in Nonprofit Mergers: Part 2 Case in Point: The Empower Yolo Merger Illustrates Survey Findings Where Mergers Work and How to Improve Them How to Discuss Merger Exploration with Grantees Announcing Your Merger Publicly Nonprofits Acquiring For-Profits Anita A. Summers, and Lara Jakubowski, “The Fiscal Burden of Unreimbursed Poverty Expenditures in the City of Philadelphia: 1985-1995,” working paper #238, Wharton Real Estate Center, University of Pennsylvania, August 1996.
“I passionate about helping my clients get clarity on whatever is holding them back from making the most impact they can, and then breaking the logjam so they can move forward”
Outside of Work
Lara is often found (slowly) cruising her neighborhood with her 12 year old labrador retriever. She enjoys biking, travel, hiking,  skiing, and cooking. She is a fan of visiting local food markets when she is in a new city. Her all-time favorite was La Merced Market in Mexico City. She is a recent empty-nester and  is enjoying her new-found flexibility to attend Denver Nuggets games and local theater productions.