Laura E Yates |

Hello! I’m Laura.

I design dynamic systems, resources, and experiences that support people in connecting, learning, and pursuing their purpose.

What I’m Working On

Program Manager, David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship Program

Leading the growth and development of the Smith Fellows community and Fellowship program (a two year post-doctoral research and professional development program for emerging leaders in conservation science and practice).

Practitioner & Facilitator, Organizational Constellations

Currently training in systemic constellations: A coaching methodology and way of working that supports individual leaders, teams, and organizations in navigating complexity and change by leveraging collective wisdom and a systemic lens.

Board Member, Indiana Phenology

Empowering Hoosiers of all ages to participate in citizen science and observe the timing and impact of seasonal changes in nature.

Consultant, Independent Practice

Providing specialized support in project management, learning experience design, and strategic operations advising to nonprofits and businesses working for a better world.

Partner, Mobius Method

Facilitating collaborative learning experiences to meet the evolving developmental needs of purpose-driven leaders and teams.

Laura designs dynamic systems, programs, and experiences that support people in connecting, learning, and pursuing their purpose.

In June 2024, Laura joined Smith Fellows and the Society for Conservation Biology as the Smith Fellows Program Manager, where she stewards the growth and development of both the Smith Fellows community and the two-year Fellowship program.

Laura has 10+ years experience consulting independently and as part of Mobius Method, specializing in learning and development, project management, and leadership and culture.

Laura served as Program Director for the Byron Fellowship Educational Foundation from 2013 to 2021, managing the annual fellowship program while developing ongoing educational offerings to support a robust global community of alumni.

Laura is a certified practitioner of the Systemic Leadership Coaching & Organizational Constellation methodology (dual-certified by the International Coaching Federation & the Center for Systemic Constellations) and continues to train as a constellations practitioner.

Laura also serves on the board of Indiana Phenology, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering Hoosiers of all ages to participate in citizen science and observe the timing and impact of seasonal changes in nature.

She holds a Bachelor’s (BS) in Economics from Bentley University, and a Master’s in Environmental Science (MSES) and Public Affairs (MPA) from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs (O’Neill School).

Laura lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with her husband Dan and dog Kaito. She enjoys traveling and creative making of all kinds (sewing, cooking, gardening, furniture building, and more).

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Superminds is the first book I have seen that deeply explores the power of information technology to enable truly new forms of human organization. I really love the premise and thoughtfulness of the book, and I highly recommend it if you want to understand and make sense of what we are likely to see in the next few years!

- Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder

From the father of collective intelligence, a refreshingly realistic view of how computers will supercharge collective intelligence and how these superminds can help us tackle the most complex problems that face the world today.

- Joi Ito, Director, MIT Media Lab

Thomas Malone was a decade ahead of most of the rest of us in thinking about the future of work. Now—in this fascinating book—he has done it again, looking ahead to a hyper-connected world and introducing us to new vistas of human capability and creativity achievable through collective intelligence. By thinking imaginatively about our future, Malone helps us think differently about the present.

- Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America; author of “Unfinished Business”

Tom Malone puts worries about artificial intelligence in perspective, explaining why AI works best when combined with humans in superminds. What makes a supermind more or less intelligent is just one of many surprises in this fascinating book.

- Patrick Winston, former director of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory; author of “Artificial Intelligence”

As Tom Malone observes, it’s usually harder to create the future than to imagine it, but in the case of interacting, networked people (as with Facebook), sometimes it’s the other way around. The wonderful essence of Tom’s book is to imagine how people and computers will interact on a massive scale to create intelligent systems. And by imagining them in advance, we have some hope of nudging them in a positive direction.

- Esther Dyson, executive founder of Way to Wellville; author of “Release 2.1”

After helping introduce the phrase Future of Work in his 2004 book with that name,Tom Malone is back to remind us that the real impact of technology will come not only from AI but also from harnessing human minds at hyperscale. In this terrific, well-researched, and highly readable book, he explores provocatively and practically the opportunities and challenges that superminds will help us address in businesses and society. Leaders who care about harnessing the power of human minds in a world enabled by digital technologies must read this book.

- James Manyika, Chairman, McKinsey Global Institute

Humans plus computers and networks have enormous potential. How can such wee creatures as ourselves take advantage of this potential? In his new book, Malone addresses this question in a concrete way, laying the foundation for a new discipline: the systems engineering of superminds.

- Vernor Vinge, Hugo Award-winning science fiction author; originator of the “technological singularity” concept

Malone takes us on an intentional journey into thinking about thought, intelligence, reasoning and consciousness. He sees these notions in extremely broad terms that have changed my views of what it means to "think" - a property that emerges from aggregations and organized structures. I may never see a four-legged table the same way again!

- Vint Cerf, VP, Google; one of the “fathers of the Internet”

A remarkable journey into the basic structures – markets, hierarchies, democracies and more – that have advanced civilization throughout history and now bring us to a turning point where the complex problems facing humanity can be addressed by people and computers working together in totally new ways. A must read for anyone interested in a fresh look at artificial intelligence.

- Amy Edmondson, professor, Harvard Business School; author of “Building the Future”

Superminds offers a fascinating deep dive into the science of collective human intelligence, and how communities of minds may ultimately be integrated with AI to produce a new, composite super-intelligence that might soon be leveraged to help solve some of humanity’s most pressing problems.

- Martin Ford, author of the bestselling “The Rise of the Robots”

The story of human civilization has fundamentally been the story of coordination: in families, tribes, markets, nations. The challenge we now face is learning how to collaborate at an unprecedented scale, with both human and nonhuman partners alike – be they institutions, decentralized networks or intelligent machines. Superminds opens a window into what may be the defining question of the coming century.