Laura Manley

Laura Manley is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Service of NYU''s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. She is also a Digital Entrepreneurship and Open Data Consultant with the World Bank’s Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice. Laura specializes in utilizing government data for economic growth, working with low- and middle-income countries on their data policies. She is a lead author of the Open Data for Business Tool, which is the first assessment methodology for private sector use of government data.

Laura is also the Co-Founder of the Center for Open Data Enterprise in Washington DC, where she leads partnerships and programs. At the Center, she oversees both the Open Data Impact Map, the first global mapping of the uses of government data and the Interagency Data Roundtables series in partnership with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

In addition to her ICT work, Laura has over a decade of strategic planning experience with multiple international agencies including the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNICEF, the National Endowment for Democracy, and MasterCard Foundation.

She holds a Masters degree in Public Administration from NYU Wagner focusing on international policy and entrepreneurship and a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Education

• Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) New York University
• Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Companies

• Executive Director, Shorenstein Center Harvard Kennedy School (2021)
• Instructor Harvard Division of Continuing Education Professional Development Programs (2018)
• Adjunct Professor NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service (2016)
• Director, Technology & Public Purpose Project, Belfer Center Harvard Kennedy School (2018 — 2021)
• Co-Founder and Director of Partnerships & Programs The Center for Open Data Enterprise (2015 — 2018)
• Senior Consultant The World Bank (2014 — 2018)
• Director of Social Entrepreneurship Research & Education NYU Stern School of Business (2013 — 2014)
• Project Manager, Open Data 500 The Governance Lab (2012 — 2014)
• Vittana Fellow Opportunity International (2011 — 2012)