Constance L. Royster is the principal of Laurel Associates LLC. She is a recognized fundraising, education, non-profit, and organizational leader. Ms. Royster served as the first ever director of major giving for WSHU National Public Radio station in Connecticut, and subsequently at Yale University, her alma mater, as associate director of development at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, and then as director of development at the Yale Divinity School. Ms. Royster came to nonprofit work after a successful career as a lawyer, and is deeply committed to civic responsibility. She has been entrusted with leadership positions at numerous local, national, and international organizations. In addition to Open Communities Alliance, the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven’s Fund for Women and Girls, Federal Bar Council, Yale Alumni Fund, International Festival of Arts & Ideas, and Dwight Hall at Yale –The Center for Public Service and Social Justice are but a few of the boards that have benefited from her wisdom. Beyond her impressive career accomplishments, Ms. Royster brings to OCA her family’s deep civil rights legacy. Her aunt, Constance Baker Motley, was the first black female federal judge, and participated in drafting the complaint in Brown v. Board of Education. Ms. Royster and her extended family remain committed supporters of civil rights and social justice issues. Born and raised in New Haven, CT, Ms. Royster is a Fellow of Jonathan Edwards College at Yale. She received her juris doctor from Rutgers University Law School – Newark, and graduated with a B.A. cum laude from Yale University.
