Laura Callanan, founding partner of Upstart Co-Lab, was senior deputy chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, leading all grant-making programs, operations, and research before launching Upstart Co-Lab in 2015.
As a consultant with McKinsey & Company’s Social Sector Office, Laura led work on social innovation, sustainable capitalism, and social impact assessment. She previously served as senior adviser at the United Nations Development Programme; executive director of the Prospect Hill Foundation; and associate director at the Rockefeller Foundation where, in addition to her responsibilities managing the endowment, she co-led the Foundation’s first impact investing efforts which included two investments in the creative economy: Smithsonian Folkways Records and netomat. Laura is a board member and past chair for GlobalGiving Foundation, and recently completed her service as a board member of Upriver Studios, a public benefit LLC; and a member of the Global Creative Economy Council, supported by the British Council. She has been a visiting fellow at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, a scholar-in-residence at UC-Berkeley/Haas School of Business, a visiting scholar to the American Academy in Rome, the recipient of a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Fellowship, and an adjunct professor at the New York University’s Stern School of Business.