Laura Swier Kotelman is an AmeriCorps NCCC alum who served in 2001 out of the Perry Point, Maryland campus. Her service included disaster recovery after Tropical Storm Allison, assisting families with FEMA applications, habitat restoration, and food security projects. On September 11, 2001, she was in Washington, D.C. for a meeting at AmeriCorps headquarters—a turning point that led her to support crisis response efforts, including training volunteers bound for New York, sorting messages for first responders, and assisting postal workers tested for anthrax. She also worked in Baltimore schools helping children learn to read and supported the Special Olympics World Games in Alaska—an experience that inspired 13 years of living in that state.

Today, Laura is a Senior Advisor at Southcentral Foundation, where she supports 17 rural Federally Qualified Health Centers across Alaska with strategy, funding readiness, and rural health initiatives. Based in South Dakota, she is engaged with local food production, teaches honey tasting classes and is a mom to three active kids.