Laura Zhang
"I'm excited to learn along with fellow students at the Justice Center who are just as passionate about public interest work as I am. It's a very secure feeling knowing that even though I'm coming into a whole new chapter of my life, there will be Justice Center peers, faculty, and staff who will support and encourage me along the way and provide a 'home' to come back to during this journey."
Laura Zhang is a Dean's Fellow for the Hodges Society, a member of Texas Law Review, and an outreach coordinator for the Texas Health Law Society. She is also a student ambassador for the Texas Law admissions office. In her 1L year, Laura served as a team lead for the Mithoff Pro Bono Program's Title IX Project. Through the project, law students serve as advisors to parties involved in disciplinary proceedings that allege conduct such as sexual assault, interpersonal violence, stalking, sexual harassment, and sex discrimination. After her 1L summer, Laura worked in the Civil Fraud Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., focusing on healthcare fraud cases. She also worked on the Medicaid and Public Benefits teams at the Legal Aid of North Carolina in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Laura graduated from The University of Texas at Austin in 2018 with degrees in Plan II Honors and Neuroscience and a certificate in Art History. After graduating from college, she worked in Dallas and Washington, D.C. as a health strategy consultant for Accenture. In that role, she collaborated with the nation’s largest healthcare payers and providers to advance their growth and equity initiatives. Some of her experience includes analyzing financial and public data to assess market growth, conducting due diligence, and driving awareness of the impact of race and racism on healthcare access.
Zhang is passionate about health equity and social determinants of health, particularly at the intersections of housing, reproductive health, and the carceral system. She is planning on working in healthcare litigation and policy after graduation.