Forty Under 40: Laura Kellams, 38

Five minutes is all it takes to know why Laura Kellams loves her job.
“The people we represent are too busy working and trying to feed their kids to go to Little Rock and argue for or against a bill,” she said.
Kellams describes Arkansas Advocates as among a handful of statewide organizations that speak up for those who would otherwise lack a voice.
“People are shocked when I talk about the number of children who live in poverty here,” Kellams said.
A Fayetteville resident for the past two decades, Kellams is also a former journalist. As far back as high school, Kellams was “interested in government and how decisions are made. Journalism was a way to watch all that firsthand.”
Graduating from the University of Arkansas came after she started at The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas in 1994. By 2002 she was covering regional politics and legislative sessions for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Despite being great at her job, Kellams made the jump to full-time lobbyist in July 2008.
From serving on the board of United Way of Northwest Arkansas and the League of Women Voters of Washington County, Kellams is a walking definition of community involvement.
Of public policy, Kellams believes that Arkansans “can have more influence on their elected officials than they understand.”