Public Service

Lara Roholt Westdorp has over 30 years in public service, at all levels of government - county, state, and federal - and as an employee, volunteer, and community advocate.  This experience provided the unique opportunity to work for and with officials on both sides of the political aisle.  

 

Lara started her career as a Presidential Management Fellow at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), with a M.P.A. from Indiana University and a B.A. from The Ohio State University.  At OMB she worked on programs in such areas as community block grants, retirement, disability insurance, Defense Agency Operations and Maintenance, Defense Topline, Appropriation legislation, and Defense Outlay Rate negotiations with the Congressional Budget Office and the Department of Defense.  

 

Her work on Defense programs was further utilized when she joined the professional staff of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee’s Readiness Subcommittee. Here she managed authorizing legislation  for Defense Transportation, Logistics, Operations and Maintenance, Information Technology, and Environmental Remediation.  For almost a decade Lara used her Federal policy experience as a federal lobbyist and consultant to guide programs through the legislative process that were designed to protect and assist the warfighter, save taxpayer funds, and/or improve healthcare options.  

 

In 2016, Lara stepped into the role of Chief of Staff for the Maryland State Senator for District 3 - her district at the time.  During the almost 4 years of working with the Senator, Lara drafted legislative concepts, prepared and provided committee testimony, assembled policy briefings, and managed the day-to-day operations and staff in the Senator’s Annapolis and District offices.