Co-Founder & CEOFighting Chance Australia
"Laura O’Reilly is a social entrepreneur who is working to create change in the Australian disability sector. Inspired by her experiences as the sibling of a young man with cerebral palsy, Laura co-founded Fighting Chance in 2011 with her brother Jordan, a not-for-profit organization which today supports more than 1,000 adults with disability in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide through the operation of its social enterprises, including Avenue and Jigsaw.
In 2015, Laura and Jordan co-founded Hireup, an online platform connecting Australians with disability with support workers who fit their needs and share their interests. Since its launch, Hireup has facilitated more than 70,000 support connections, provided more than 8.5 million hours of support, saved the users of Hireup around $70 million in support funding, and has revolutionized the way that people with disability access support in the community.
Laura is a graduate of Cambridge University and the University of New South Wales, where she studied history and law respectively. Laura was the recipient of a range of awards while at University, including two Dean's List Prizes for Academic Excellence while at UNSW, and the Anne Jemima Clough and Jessie Forbes Prizes while at Cambridge. In September 2014 Laura was awarded the Australian Woman’s Weekly Woman of the Future, was a finalist for both the NSW Young Australian of the Year 2016 and NSW Woman of the Year 2019, and was a Westpac Social Change Fellow in 2018. Laura was awarded an OAM for services to the disability community in 2021.
Laura is a mother of three and her other interests include politics and global affairs."