What happens when giving back becomes part of how a company operates, rather than something it does on the side?
For Laura Galbraith, Director of Community Impact at Vidyard, that distinction has shaped much of her career. Growing up, volunteering was simply part of family life, instilling an early belief that everyone has a role to play in strengthening the communities around them. Years later, she found an opportunity to bring that same thinking into the workplace, helping build an approach to social impact at Vidyard that gives employees different ways to contribute their time, skills and resources.
From volunteering with Strong Start, a children’s literacy charity, early in her career to supporting STEM education and helping launch Plugin, Laura has seen how access, opportunity, and a sense of belonging can shape what people see as possible for themselves.
That perspective is particularly personal when it comes to girls in STEM. As the mother of a daughter who dreams of becoming an astrophysicist, Laura sees both how much has changed and how much work remains to ensure ambition is met with opportunity.
In this interview, she shares what it takes to make social impact part of company culture, why access and representation matter for the next generation of girls in STEM, what motivates people to become involved in their communities, and why Waterloo Region has become such a powerful ecosystem for collaboration and impact.
You’ve built your career at the intersection of tech and community impact. What first drew you to this work, and how has that focus evolved over time?
My family had a huge influence on me from an early age when it came to giving back and understanding why it matters. Volunteering has always been part of my life, and that foundation shaped the kind of work I was drawn to as my career took shape.
I was also fortunate to work at Vidyard for two co-founders, Devon Galloway and Michael Litt, who believed deeply in an organization’s role in giving back, engaging employees, and empowering them to do the same. I’m forever grateful that they entrusted me to help shape and build this programming at Vidyard.
Over time, my focus has sharpened. I used to think of community impact as something you did alongside your job. Now I see it as something that can, and should, be woven into the fabric of an organization. When you build it into how a company operates and how it shows up locally, that’s when it stops being a side project and starts being part of who you are.
At Vidyard, you’re embedding social impact into the fabric of the business. What does it take to move giving back from a program to a true part of company culture?
It takes intention, and it takes leaders who are willing to treat it as a real priority, not a nice-to-have. Programs come and go, but culture is what people do when no one is watching. So the work is less about launching initiatives and more about creating the conditions where employees feel genuinely invited and equipped to contribute.
At Vidyard, that’s looked like making space for employees to volunteer, partnering with local organizations in ways that match our team’s passions, offering product donations and specialized training, and being transparent about where we’re putting our time, dollars, and energy. It also means celebrating the small wins and providing different pathways for people to get involved, because social impact isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. It has to be intentional, and it has to connect with the mission.
I’m so honored to do the work that I do. Seeing the impact of these programs, and seeing employees feel empowered to give back, is incredibly rewarding. You learn so much about the people you work with through this kind of work. You understand why they got involved with a particular organization, why they give of their time, and those stories connect us and help us understand each other in new ways.
Your early work in STEM and educational outreach clearly shaped your path. How do you see access to STEM opportunities influencing the next generation, particularly for young girls?
This one is close to my heart, partly because I have a daughter who wants to be an astrophysicist. Watching her light up talking about space reminds me every day why representation and access matter so much. When young girls can see themselves in STEM, whether through a mentor, a program, or just a woman on a panel who looks like someone they know, it changes what they believe is possible for them.
Access is the piece we can’t lose sight of. Talent is everywhere, but opportunity isn’t. The more we can open doors early, through school partnerships, community programs, and exposure to real role models, the more we start to close that gap. And the benefit isn’t just for the girls themselves, we all gain when more voices and perspectives are shaping the technology and science of tomorrow.
It’s why I volunteer my time in this space. We’re still seeing a real imbalance, and it’s important that we keep our foot on the gas, supporting programming and creating more opportunities so we can keep moving the dial. I want my daughter, and every girl who dreams big like her, to grow up in a world where their ambitions are met with opportunity, not barriers.
As a founding organizer of Plugin, you’ve helped connect people to local causes in a meaningful way. What have you learned about what motivates individuals to engage in their communities?
People want to help. That’s the big lesson. What holds most of us back isn’t a lack of care, it’s not knowing where to start, or feeling like our contribution won’t matter. Plugin was really born out of that gap, making it easier for people to find causes that matter to them and take that first step.
What I’ve learned is that connection is the magic ingredient. People stay engaged when they feel part of something, when they build relationships through the work, and when they can see the tangible difference they’re making. It’s less about asking people to give more, and more about making it easy and meaningful for them to give what they already want to give.
You’ve chosen to build both your career and life in the Waterloo region. What makes this community such a powerful place for innovation and impact?
Waterloo Region is like no other. We have three post-secondary institutions, a vibrant and growing tech scene, and organizations that actively empower and support entrepreneurship. We also have a deeply supportive community, with incredible organizations showing up for everyone, from our most vulnerable neighbours and beyond. It’s a place where the tech scene and the community scene aren’t separate worlds, they genuinely overlap. We have a real ecosystem of support and care.
What makes this region so powerful is the willingness. The willingness to support one another, the willingness to roll up our sleeves and tackle hard problems together, and the willingness to find solutions as a collective rather than in silos. When a challenge shows up in this community, whether it’s a social issue, a gap in services, or a big question facing one of our industries, people come to the table. Leaders pick up the phone for each other. Organizations share what they’ve learned. And more often than not, the answer isn’t something one company or one sector solves alone, it’s something we build together.
That closeness creates real momentum. People show up for each other here. Companies invest in the community, the community invests in its people, and there’s a shared sense that we’re building something together. It’s also a region that punches well above its weight on innovation, which I think comes directly from that same spirit, the willingness to collaborate, share, and lift each other up. It’s an easy place to put down roots, both professionally and personally, because you know you’re surrounded by people who want to see you, and this region, thrive.