Laura Desai, member
Elected, 2010-2011
Re-elected, 2011-2014
Chairperson, Communications committees
Member, Finance & Facilities Committee
A lifelong resident of Hopewell Township, Laura Desai was elected to the Board in April 2010 to serve the final year of the term vacated by former board member Armelle Daniels in June 2009. She serves as chairperson of the board's Communications Committee and is a member of the Finance & Facilities Committee. Ms. Desai currently is the Board liaison to Stony Brook Elementary School and the Hopewell Valley Municipal Alliance; she also serves, along with member Daniel J. O'Connor, as co-liaison to Pennington Borough Council.
Ms. Desai managed the MBA recruitment program for Merrill Lynch's Private Client Human Resources Division before switching careers to become a teacher of Spanish.
Upon completion of New Jersey's alternate route teacher's program, Ms. Desai began teaching in three Mercer County Catholic schools, where she designed, developed and implemented the Spanish program for pre-kindergarten through grade 8. Ms. Desai currently teaches Spanish to seventh- and eighth-grade students at Crockett Middle School in Hamilton Township, New Jersey. In addition, she coaches girls' soccer and girls' basketball at Crockett and participates in the Outdoor Environmental Education program in the Hamilton Township school district.
Ms. Desai has been named the 2009-2010 Crockett Middle School Teacher of the Year, as well as the 2009-2010 Hamilton Township District Teacher of the Year.
Ms. Desai owns and operates her own jewelry business. Her other activities include volunteering as class agent with The Pennington School and serving as executive member of The Pennington School Alumni Association.
Ms. Desai was named the Woman of the Year in Education for 2008 by the American Biographical Institute, listed in Cambridge’s Who’s Who for 2008, and has been awarded Honorary Mentor status by the Young Scholars Leadership Council program.
Ms. Desai graduated from The College of New Jersey where she majored in business and Spanish and minored in human resources.
updated May 2011