Laurie grew up in a Navy family but has been a Columbus resident since 1990. She raised 3 special young men here and loves this community with every fiber of her being. She is the CEO of the Laurie Elsass Group with Keller Williams Capital Partners and is also licensed in Naples, Florida with KW Elite Realty. A graduate of the University of Virginia, Laurie's professional background includes decades of political campaign work, lobbying on economic development issues for both Governors George Voinovich and Bob Taft, as well as extensive experience in both political and non-profit fundraising. She has dedicated her life to public service and helping others. Her civic accomplishments include former appointments to the Dublin Board of Zoning Appeals and the State Medical Board of Ohio. She is the founder of H2O, a support group for parents who have children struggling with substance use disorder. She is one of the founding board members of Heartland High School, Ohio's ONLY recovery-based high school serving adolescents with substance use disorder. She serves on the board of the R.E.I.D. Foundation (Reaching Everyone In Distress), created in her late son's memory which provides free musical instruments and music lessons to individuals in active recovery. The foundation also works with inmates at the Pickaway Correctional Institute and Marysville Women's Prison. Laurie has been interviewed by local news and radio stations on topics surrounding the opioid crisis and has dedicated her adult life to finding treatments for those suffering from it and offering help and support to families with loved ones affected by the disease. In 2024, Laurie founded Empowered Seniors Columbus, and began hosting free monthly educational seminars for seniors and their families. Her goal was to create a safe space for seniors to learn and ask questions about important lifestyle topics.