Ladakh Trip Leaders

Laura co-founded the Siddhartha School Project in 1993, when her Smith College professor, Khen Rinpoche asked for her help. Laura says, “The Siddhartha School started with a simple wish to provide children in Rinpoche’s native village a better education, closer to home. Since 1995 when we hired our first teacher and held classes in a rented room, we have taken great care in growing the school while never losing sight of our primary purpose—to provide the best possible educational experience to Ladakhi children with an eye toward the future and a reverence for the past.”

Laura lives in New York with her husband, son, and Labrador, and travels to annually. Passionate about Himalayan art and heritage, she’s studied with a master Ladakhi Buddhist icon painter, wrote Harvard’s Peabody Museum Guide to their collection of Himalayan objects, and has a master’s degree from Harvard Divinity School in world religions with a focus on Tibetan art and religious history. She is thrilled to share Himalayan culture and the beauty of Ladakh with visitors, and looks forward to taking this group through sites she’s been visiting since 1989.