The Twenty-First Century Museum

Laura Roberts has an active consulting practice that works with cultural nonprofits on strategic planning, assessment, staff and board training, and organizational development. She was on the faculty of Bank Street College of Education, and held prior teaching appointments at Tufts University, Boston University, Lesley University, Northeastern University, and the History Leadership Institute. Roberts was executive director of the New England Museum Association and the Boston Center for Adult Education. Prior to those positions, she was director of education at three history museums in New England. She serves as a member of the boards of History Cambridge (chair, program committee), Central Square Theater (president), Environment & Culture Partners (treasurer), and Cambridge Public Library Foundation (secretary, nominating and governance chair), and is on the educational advisory committee of Old Sturbridge Village. She is a past chair of the board of the Tufts University Art Gallery. Roberts is a peer reviewer for the American Alliance of Museums and serves on the editorial review panels of The Journal of Museum Education and the American Association for State and Local History. Roberts received her MBA in public and nonprofit management from Boston University, her MA in history museum studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program of the State University of New York, and her BA in social anthropology from Harvard University.