Laura Kent-Monning was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board in February 2020, reappointed to serve her second term in 2023, and recently elected to serve as Vice-Chair to the Board in June 2023. Prior to her appointment, Kent-Monning was a practicing immigration attorney in the Bay Area for over 10 years. In 2016, Kent-Monning founded LKM Legal through which she provided consulting services to various Bay Area immigration firms and non-profits. Prior to forming LKM Legal, Kent-Monning was an attorney at HaleyNelson & Heilbrun from 2012 to 2016, and at Van Der Hout Immigration & Nationality Law from 2009 to 2011. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from Golden Gate University School of Law, where she served as the Managing Editor for the Environmental Law Journal and interned at the Contra Costa Office of the Public Defender and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. Kent-Monning earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin American Studies from Oberlin College and is fluent in Spanish. She resides in Oakland with her family.