Laura Arnold

Laura Elena Arnold ( Muñoz; born 1972/1973) is an American philanthropist and co-founder of Arnold Ventures LLC. In addition to serving as co-chair of Arnold Ventures, Arnold became a founding partner of the REFORM Alliance, a national criminal justice advocacy organization in 2019. Prior to her work in philanthropy, she was a mergers-and-acquisitions lawyer and an executive at Cobalt International Energy.

Career Arnold was a mergers-and-acquisitions lawyer at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen and Katz in New York. She then worked as executive vice president and general counsel of Cobalt International Energy in Houston until 2006. She has degrees from Harvard (B.A. in government), Cambridge (Masters of Philosophy in European Studies), and Yale Law School (J.D.) and clerked for Judith W. Rogers, judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In 2008, they opened a private foundation that focuses on philanthropic efforts in the areas of education, health, tax policy, and criminal justice. In 2019, the foundation was restructured into an LLC and renamed Arnold Ventures. It combines the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, their political giving group the Action Now Initiative, and their donor-advised fund.

In 2013, during the federal government shutdown, the Arnolds donated $10 million to keep Head Start programs running and serving at-risk children.

From 2010-2013, Arnold served on the board of the Innocence Project, an organization that focuses on exonerating individuals who have been wrongfully convicted. In March 2019, the Arnolds announced the opening of the National Partnership for Pretrial Justice.

In April 2021, Arnold committed to donating 5% of her wealth annually when she and her husband signed Global Citizen's "Give While You Live" campaign. This is an effort to encourage more donations to charitable organizations.

Personal life Laura is married to John Arnold, and the couple have three children.