Laura McQuade is the founder and president of Airmedh Consulting, which provides advisory services and interim leadership services within the nonprofit and for-profit sectors.
McQuade, the former President and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, has helped multiple C-suite positions in both the for-profit and nonprofit spaces. In her new role, she is advising clients on key issues around policy and strategy.
Airmedh Consulting draws on McQuade’s vast experience to help companies with an array of leadership services, including:
- Strategic planning
- Organizational development, transformations and turnarounds
- Finance and operations
- Media and marketing
- Fundraising and seed capital acquisition
- Public policy and advocacy
While the organization focuses on consulting across industry sectors, the practice draws on McQuade’s expertise particularly in health care management, start-up operations, international business and women and girls.
Prior to establishing Airmedh Consulting, Laura McQuade spent three years as the president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Greater New York. There she oversaw an extensive reorganization that saw the nonprofit merge five affiliate organizations.
The merged entity, launched on January 1, 2020, resulted in a larger organization with a $110 million budget in its first year. The new chapter included 28 health centers and 900 employees, with more than 200,000 patient visits per year.
As a larger entity, McQuade, who joined the New York organization in September 2017, could leverage better negotiating power with commercial payers and develop partnerships with health systems.
She also continued a steadfast commitment to Planned Parenthood’s focus on access to comprehensive health care as threats to access to reproductive health care come under increasing threat across the country.
Previously, McQuade was appointed CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri in July 2014. During her tenure there, McQuade led the organization through mergers that created Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which now provides health care services, education and advocacy in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.
From June 2008 to her appointment to Planned Parenthood, McQuade was the executive vice president, chief operating officer and acting CEO for the Center for Reproductive Rights. The organization uses legal strategies to advance the idea that reproductive freedom is a fundamental human right and that the world’s governments have an obligation to protect, respect and fulfill it.
As the second in command at the New York-based global human rights organization, McQuade led the strategic and annual planning work throughout the nonprofit. She coordinated interdepartmental operations and led cross-institutional initiatives as well.
McQuade earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the College of the Holy Cross before earning a master’s degree in international relations from Yale University.
Earlier in her career, she worked as a field officer and grants officer for the National Democratic Institute. Working in Tirana, Albania, she organized and managed an 1,800-person domestic monitoring project for a national constitutional referendum, provided technical assistance in management, policy and activity to a subgrantee organization, and negotiated and managed grants totaling $20 million for civic organizations in 20 countries.
For nearly two years, beginning in October 1995, she was the chief financial and operating officer for The Foundation for a Civil Society. There, she managed a $4 million annual budget provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and private corporations and foundations while managing a staff of 40 in three countries.
Laura McQuade spent seven years at the Financial Services Volunteer Corps, first as a regional director for Asia and chief of party for Indonesia. In that role, she opened the organization’s first office in Asia and provided assistance with financial sector technical needs. She collaborated with various Indonesian financial sector clients, including USAID, the U.S. embassy, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Later, as managing director, she oversaw the financial management and operations, oversaw new program development across the globe, and oversaw program activity across Asia.
From 2006 to 2008, she was a vice president of global market risk management for Bank of America. There, she oversaw credit reviews for 50 hedge fund managers, negotiated trading terms and approved and provided margin on trades for a portfolio of hedge fund managers.
In addition to her professional work, McQuade served as a board member for Good Samaritan Project Kansas City in 2016-2017.
Laura McQuade has earned numerous honors for her work. She was named one of Crain’s 2019 50 Most Powerful Women in New York. Other accolades include the following recognition from City & State New York:
- 2019 Above & Beyond
- The 2019 Nonprofit Power 100
- The 2019 Women Power 100
- The Healthcare Power 50.
- 2018 inaugural Women Power 100 list
