Phoenix native Laura Pastor is a fifth-generation Arizonan and current member of the Phoenix City Council, having been first elected in 2013 and again to a second term in 2017 and final term 2023.

For four years, Laura was a classroom teacher herself in the Roosevelt and Isaac Elementary School Districts, working primarily with at-risk students. During that time, she created a volunteer program to provide after-school tutoring and authored an accountability program for teachers, students, and parents.

Currently, Laura is the Community Liaison at Phoenix College and served for 12 years as a member of the Phoenix Union High School District Governing Board.

She is a graduate of St. Mary's High School and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from Arizona State University, and Masters of Public Administration from Baruch College through National Urban Fellows. Her grandparents and great-grandparents worked in Eastern Arizona's mining communities, and both her parents began their careers as classroom teachers.

She has served as a member of the Encanto Village Planning Committee and is a former member of the Hispanic Advisory Board of Maricopa Community Colleges, the Homeless Task Force, the Maricopa Transportation Advisory Board, and Phoenix Day. Recently, Vice Mayor (2022), Chair of the Economic Development and Equity subcommittee and Chair of Valley Metro RPTA Board of Directors.

She resides in Phoenix with her husband, Henry Cotto, a former major league baseball player and minor league coach. They have four children, Henry Jr., Claudia, Eduardo, Sophia and two grandchildren, Llandel and Alonzo Cotto.