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Friends of the Verde River is proud to honor Laura McBride as the 2025 Heron Award recipient for Nonprofit Partner, recognizing her lasting impact through the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust and her commitment to protecting vital waterways in Arizona.
Through the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, Laura helped support mission-driven organizations working to restore habitat, improve water quality, and protect the Verde River for future generations. Over the years, their funding has supported critical projects such as habitat restoration, environmental education, and the Verde River Watershed Report Card, helping guide conservation efforts and elevate community awareness of the river’s challenges and opportunities.
The Trust’s strategic focus on critical waterways in Arizona and Indiana has strengthened long-term, collaborative solutions for rivers like the Verde. By investing in restoration, water retention, wildlife protection, and tree canopy expansion, the Trust has helped advance a healthier, more resilient watershed. This work recognizes that protecting habitat and protecting water are inseparable goals.
Laura’s leadership, thoughtful grantmaking, and deep understanding of Arizona communities have left an enduring mark on conservation across the state. While she recently retired from the Trust, her legacy continues through the organizations, landscapes, and waterways she helped strengthen.
About Laura McBride
Laura McBride recently retired from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust where for eight years she was responsible for grantmaking to environmental and human services organizations in Arizona. At the Trust, her responsibilities included reviewing grant proposals, meeting potential grant recipients, conducting site visits and monitoring and evaluating grants. McBride also represented the Trust on numerous nonprofit advisory councils and was the liaison for the Nina Scholars Legacy Program at Arizona State University.
McBride joined the Trust in 2017 after serving as a corporate giving officer for Arizona Public Service for five years. Prior to that, she had a 32-year career at the Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette as a reporter, editor, editorial writer and community relations manager. In her community role, McBride represented the newspaper on nonprofit boards, oversaw the annual Season for Sharing campaign and Gannett Foundation grants and administered funding for the Arizona Child Abuse Prevention License Plate program and the Walk to End Domestic Violence.
A native Phoenician, McBride earned a degree in mass communications from ASU and is an alum of Valley Leadership Class XXV and Leadership West Class III. Her favorite role, however, is as a mother and grandmother.
Laura’s career reflects a steadfast belief in the power of community, partnership, and purpose-driven philanthropy. We are deeply grateful for her support of the Verde River and proud to recognize her with this year’s Heron Award for Nonprofit Partner.
The Heron Awards
Each Heron Award is a beautiful, glass-blown work of art crafted by local artists at The Melting Point. These one-of-a-kind pieces symbolize our deep appreciation for those who help Friends of the Verde River protect and restore one of the Southwest’s last free-flowing rivers. They embody creativity, dedication, and the river’s enduring resilience.
We also take great pride in recognizing our partners and supporters during our annual gala, Fiesta de la Garza, where the community comes together to celebrate the people who make our work possible.
