Laura F. Poe, Ph.D. was elected to City Council in November 2020 for her first appointment. She is the city’s representative on the Youth Services Commission and previously served on the City Council Advisory Board for approximately 14 years. Dr. Poe has lived in Colonial Heights for 20 years with her husband, Jason, a native resident and Colonial Heights City Police Officer, and their two children, Katherine and Joshua.
Dr. Poe has 23 years of business experience and earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Technology Management from Indiana State University. She has, also, earned her M.A. Theological Studies from Liberty University, M.S. Information Systems from Virginia Commonwealth University, B.S. Accounting from Virginia Commonwealth University, and B.S. Information Systems from Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Poe is a full-time professor of Information Systems and Cyber Security at Longwood University with research in areas such as biometrics, software quality in rapid delivery methodologies, pedagogy, and others. In addition to her position at Longwood University, Dr. Poe owns and operates an IT Consulting firm where she has done work for many public and private sector clients, recently earning accolades from the Commonwealth of Virginia for her leadership on the Rebuild VA grant program, which provided $120M in grants for small businesses impacted by statewide government shutdowns.
In her spare time, Dr. Poe enjoys spending time with her family doing water sports, being outdoors, and reading. She speaks fluent French and loves to learn other languages, travel, and experience other cultures.
