Laurel Dumont's work as a philanthropy advisor is informed by her decades of experience working collaboratively across sectors -- as a teacher, lawyer, organizational leader, social entrepreneur, and grantmaker focused on social, economic, and racial justice.

Laurel has made an indelible impact in communities in her home state of New Jersey. After practicing law at Essex-Newark Legal Services and the NJ Institute for Social Justice, Laurel started the Center for Collaborative Change to engage residents in government, nonprofit, and business decisions that impact their lives. She spent the next decade connecting people and resources to help communities thrive. She co-founded Newark Reentry Legal Services (ReLeSe), a first-of-its-kind pro bono legal services program that has served thousands of New Jersey residents seeking employment after incarceration. She worked closely with the Newark Police Department to improve community relations using national research and extensive community engagement. She also led a collective impact initiative centered around local schools that secured over $60,000,000 from local and national funders. The program created healthy hubs with increased fresh food and affordable housing options for residents.

Since 2013, Laurel's grantmaking and nonprofit capacity-building experience has extended nationally, while developing depth of practice experience and philanthropy networks in New York City, specifically. She supported new leaders across the country through coaching, leadership development, strategy consulting, and start-up funding as an executive coach and capacity-builder, and by creating a Venture Fund & Fellowship and New Venture Accelerator at Leadership for Educational Equity. As a philanthropy advisor with Intentional Philanthropy and Collaborative Strategies, Laurel has guided and advised family and independent foundations seeking to focus and deepen their impact; as an advisor and program officer, she has identified, vetted, structured, co-created and recommended close to $100,000,000 in grants. Laurel holds a BA from Wesleyan University and a JD/MSW from University of Michigan. She currently serves as a co-chair of Philanthropy New York's Youth & Education Funders working group.

Areas of Focus

• Foundation purpose and priorities
• Grantmaking strategy for impact and values-alignment
• Grantmaking tools and systems
• Field research on issues, approaches, innovations or funding landscape
• Coaching and technical assistance
• Nonprofit capacity-building
• Designing collaborations and peer learning opportunities for funders and/or grantees