Dr. Laura Gilchrest is a mom, scholar, and community advocate running for Prince George’s County Council at Large. She’s worked for 20 years alongside communities to evaluate and inform policy on equity, health systems, economic opportunity, and governance. Dr. Gilchrest fervently believes that people, not money, should have the priority in our community, which is why she chose to run as a publicly financed candidate. Laura knows that bottom-up solutions, diverse coalitions, and data-driven policies are key to our collective goals. In addition to her formal education, working across multiple service and professional sectors over nearly three decades has made Dr. Gilchrest a sharp political economist and systems-level problem solver with years of experience ethically and responsibly managing other people’s money, large program budgets, operations, payroll, and building consensus. Laura has overcome many significant challenges throughout her life and takes nothing for granted. She is no stranger to hard work and will fight for all who call Prince George’s County home because everyone deserves healthy, equitable communities that reflect who we are and what we want our futures to be.

Laura lives in Adelphi with her daughter (7), her partner Jacob, Dalmatian rescue named Jax, and cats Emily Dickenson and Edgar Allan Poe.

Policy Objectives

• Transparency and Accountability: These are key to trust in our elected officials and the efficacy of governance. I’ll address transparency and accountability through expansion and improvement of the Fair Election Fund, appointment reform, keeping regular office hours, regular attendance or representation at community events and meetings, updating and maintaining the county council website, regular community briefings and newsletters, open-door meetings, and ensuring fiscal responsibility by keeping colleagues accountable as well.

  
  

• Smart Growth and Community-Led Development: Not all development is good development. How county residents benefit in the short and long-term and what they want in their neighborhoods should be the primary driver of development. We must also make smart decisions that consider our current and future climate challenges and protect our communities through wise planning and environmentally just and sound projects that make life better for the whole.

  
  

• Community Investment and Smart Taxes: Our budget must prioritize our public schools, failing and poorly maintained infrastructure, and public goods like our healthcare, library, and transit systems, Fire & EMS. Our commercial businesses rarely pay the taxes they owe to the community. Empty lots and even many commercial parking lots pay no taxes on the land values, and like every other billionaire in the country, ours don’t pay proportional taxes. One improvement in any of these areas would bring in hundreds of millions of dollars - with all three and a tax-based employer accountability program, we could bolster our county budget, reduce residential property taxes, and protect ourselves from state and federal shortfalls and cuts with billions in tax revenue over the next few years alone.

  
  

• Public Health: One of the key responsibilities of the County Council is to serve as the Board of Public Health. Our county has seen hospitals and trauma centers close, and have high risks of maternal mortality, high rates of uninsured folks, and critical deficiencies in areas that lead to poor short- and long-term health crises. We must expand and fully fund our public health facilities, programs, and staff by increasing urgent care and hospital centers, increasing mobile wellness units and transit solutions for healthcare to ensure universal coverage.increasing mental health facilities, services, and non-police first-responders, support care workers and medical training, and expand eldercare services. We must also address the root causes of poor health by eliminating food apartheid, bringing grocery stores and supporting urban and rural community farm expansion, providing housing-first solutions, providing universal public health where possible and advocating for it at the State and Federal levels.

  
  

• Community-driven policy: Regularly meet with and discuss policy issues, questions, and interests with community members in the community, support community-drafted policy, increase and support community resources and support to engage, train, and educate community about policies, policy-making, and governance processes. Incorporate community feedback into policy proposals and voting decisions.

Education Background

• PhD in Anthropology, American University

• MA Anthropology, American University 

• MA International Studies (Political Economy) with Distinction, DePaul University