Laura Garza

Uvalde, Texas community member and aunt of Robb Elementary victim Amerie Jo Garza. She was publicly identified by KABOOM! as a leader on the DeLeon Park playground planning committee and has spoken in local media and KABOOM! materials about community healing, school safety, and supporting children after the May 24, 2022 Uvalde school shooting.

KABOOM! Tests Playgrounds as Civic Trust Infrastructure in Uvalde

KABOOM! chief executive Lysa Ratliff used a Trust in Practice Summit awardee spotlight to argue that playgrounds can be more than a post-crisis gesture in Uvalde, Texas. She said the organization’s work after the Robb Elementary shooting shifted from building a single playspace to addressing a citywide access gap, with trust built through repeated presence and community-designed projects. Ratliff’s central claim is that joy can be productive: a measurable source of belonging, connection and problem-solving capacity, if KABOOM! and its research partners can prove the effect.

The Aspen InstituteJun 10, 20267 min read