Laura Arnold, born Laura Munoz, is an American philanthropist and activist. Together with her husband, the retired hedge fund manager John D. Arnold, she is the co-founder of the Laura and John Arnold Foundation and the grantmaking organization Arnold Ventures. She is also a founding partner of the REFORM Alliance, which opposes incarcerating criminals and raises funds to cover fines, fees, and restitution payments. Throughout her philanthropy career, Laura Arnold has primarily focused on promoting left-of-center criminal justice, health care, and education policies. Previously, she held an executive position with a Texas oil corporation and worked as a corporate attorney, having attended Harvard University and Yale Law School.
Arnold supported the Biden administration’s move to partially cancel student debt via executive action in August 2022, which the Supreme Court ruled to be unconstitutional in June 2023. She has also claimed that sentencing criminals to probation is a “trap” and that supervision violations should not be treated as additional criminal offenses. In addition, Arnold has pushed for private grantmaking institutions to fund research aimed at supporting policies which would restrict Second Amendment rights.