Laura Slatkin

Founder NEST New York

As a pioneer and driving force in the home fragrance industry since the 1992 launch of Slatkin & Co., the first American luxury home fragrance brand, Laura’s reputation is
unparalleled. In addition to creating her own brands, Laura has created home fragrance collections for over 100 luxury labels. In 2008, Laura launched NEST New York, a collection of home scents conceived and designed for consumers with a true affinity for home fragrance.

The launch was an enormous success and was followed by the introduction of NEST fine fragrances in 2013, a collection of eau de parfums that led the shift in the fine fragrance market toward artisanal, niche brands, offering consumers authenticity, creativity, and a point of differentiation.

Since then, NEST New York has evolved into a lifestyle fragrance brand that exquisitely scents your entire world with its selection of home, perfume, wellness, fragrance technology, and personal care collections. Woven throughout all of Laura’s work is her classical style, discerning taste, and unique sense of creativity. Her longstanding and impactful contributions to the home fragrance industry earned her the fragrance foundation’s game changer award in 2019 and was named the Beauty Market Maker of the Year by WWD for the development of NEST New York’s perfume oil collection.

Laura recently founded Slatkin Ventures to build the next generation of consumer brands in categories that have been left behind. Tapping into her deep interest in science, her expertise in beauty and fragrance, and her love of innovative design, Laura aims to transform everyday consumer products into the extraordinary.

In addition, Laura is committed to advancing the field of autism. Her son, David, is severely impacted by the disorder. In 2003, along with her husband and close colleagues, she co founded NEXT for AUTISM, an organization dedicated to transforming the national landscape of services for people living with autism. NEXT for AUTISM has developed important programs serving the community including NYC Autism charter schools in Harlem and the Bronx; The Center for Autism and the Developing Brain, an institute in partnership with NY Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia and Cornell universities. Today NEXT for AUTISM is focused on supporting adults with autism with programs in employment, residential living and training expanding the availability of direct support professionals.

Laura serves on the Board of Trustees of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the Board of Directors of Columbia University Department of Psychiatry and helped to develop the Hunter College Autism Research and Policy Board, as well as her involvement in other NYC-based charitable organizations