Laura Washington is Chief Communications Officer & Vice President for Strategic Partnerships at the New-York Historical Society.
As an executive in the philanthropy and nonprofit sectors, for more than 15 years, Washington has guided organizations to greater visibility and impact. She has a track record of transformational leadership at startups and organizations undergoing significant change.
Washington built and led teams responsible for advertising and marketing, audience development, brand development, community and volunteer engagement, digital strategy, and government and media relations. As the former head of communications at the $8 billion Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (2015-2021), Washington was the architect of the institution’s very first communications department and led a team that deployed campaigns that helped generate more than $10 million in support from other funders and interested parties.
She cultivates and stewards private and public partnerships and designs innovative entrepreneurial programs tied to institutional objectives. Washington serves on the Center for Fiction and Historic Huguenot Street boards and is a strategic and trusted advisor to leadership teams and staff at all levels. She holds a BA in history from Vassar College, an MS in Strategic Communications from Columbia University.
