Our Team

Lara McCormick, MPAff

Policy Research Associate

Lara is a Policy Research Associate at the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center. In her role, she conducts rigorous and comprehensive reviews of evidence in the area of child and parent health policy, produces technical written resources for policymakers, and contributes to the annual Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap. 

Prior to this role, Lara was a graduate research assistant at the Child and Family Research Partnership and supported staff in creating evidence reviews in a variety of policy areas. She also served as a legislative aide in the Texas State House of Representatives where she focused on issues such as contraceptive access, insurance coverage for fertility preservation, and sexual assault survivor protections. Her policy specialization is in reproductive health and equitable healthcare access.

Lara holds a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs from The LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from St. Bonaventure University. In her free time, Lara loves traveling, trying out new recipes, gardening, and pilates.

Authored Content

State lawmakers face difficult choices about how to use scarce public resources. To ensure that investments have a big impact on young children, lawmakers often want to know—which policies actually work? The Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact
Since 2019, the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center has empowered states with evidence on which policies positively impact very young children and their parents. Reviewing the evidence connecting state policies to outcomes for young children and
April 11th marks the start of Black Maternal Health Week, which draws attention to worsening health disparities caused by systemic racism. This week offers an opportunity to consider state policies that reduce racial and ethnic