Talent Citizen congratulates Laura Lambert on being appointed Chief Development Officer for Life Stories, a nonprofit media and education organization that believes in the transformative power of visual storytelling as a catalyst for learning, civic dialogue, and connection. Starting on October 15, 2025, Laura will work closely with Life Stories’ Co-Executive Directors, creative staff, and education team to raise philanthropic funding for their strategic priorities and outreach initiatives.
Laura has 20 years of experience in fundraising and partner engagement in direct service, education, research, and policy organizations. She will play a key role in shaping Life Stories’ next chapter, helping to grow a philanthropic community that shares a belief in the power of narrative to educate, build connection, and inspire, in an era when it’s urgently needed.
Laura joins Life Stories from Consumer Reports (CR), where she was inaugural Head of Philanthropic Partnerships and led a team engaging new funders and ensuring strategic alignment with CR’s long-term goals as a social enterprise. This included management of a funder collaborative with five national philanthropies committed to developing technology, particularly AI, for public benefit.
Prior to CR, as Senior Director of Principal Gifts, Philanthropic Partnerships at The Pew Charitable Trusts, Laura amplified Pew’s funding by collaborating with philanthropies to scale domestic and global social impact initiatives including Enduring Earth, a $4 billion campaign to durably protect 350 hectares in eleven countries with 100 partners, governments, and Indigenous communities. She also led the campaign to acknowledge the collective impact of Giving Pledge members who invested their philanthropy alongside Pew.
Throughout her career, Laura has championed giving approaches that secure resources for multiple generations. As Chief Development Officer at LifeWorks Youth and Family Alliance she raised philanthropic revenue as a match to federal funds to develop national benchmarks for ending youth homelessness. During her thirteen-year tenure at the University of California, she raised six-, seven-, and eight-figure gifts to support student affairs, endowed scholarships, faculty chairs, and research initiatives including a $65 million capital gift for the Munger Physics Residence at UC Santa Barbara.
Laura is excited to join Life Stories in their commitment to historical truth, artistry, and public purpose. Building trusting relationships with changemakers and philanthropists alike, her work will fuel Life Stories’ reach to new audiences and partners, equipping more arts, civic, and educational institutions with powerful storytelling and learning tools.
Laura graduated with Bachelor of Arts degrees in both English and Women’s Studies from Bates College and earned a Masters of Arts in Education from UC Santa Barbara.
Talent Citizen President Tracy Welsh and Senior Associate Eva Kotilinek led this search.