Laura Illia is Assistant Professor in Corporate and Business Communication at Instituto de Empresa, School of Communication (IE University, Spain). Her current research focuses on how issues of organizational identity, image, reputation, social responsibility, and corporate communication are involved in organizational change and communication of innovations. Prior to joining IE, she conducted research at the Judge Business School (University of Cambridge) and London School of Economics (University of London).

Since 2006, she guest lectures communication at the London School of Economics, Institute of Social Psychology. She previously worked at the Institute of Marketing and Communication Management (University of Lugano, Switzerland), where she participated in various research studies, consulting, and teaching activities. Her research work on Cyberactivism won the "Jos Willems Award" as best European research in communication management in 2002, and her paper on corporate social responsibility won the Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2009.

She holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Lugano, and graduated from the Executive Master in Communication Management at the same university. She is a member of the editorial board of the Corporate Reputation Review, and served as an ad-hoc reviewer for academic journals, such as European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Ethics, Organization Science and Corporate Communication. Besides her academic engagements, she collaborates with Cotting Consulting International as a special coach for media, branding, internal communications and image strategies.