Laura Smyth, Ph.D., has over two decades experience in the arts and education field as a teacher, researcher, and program associate, beginning as a third-grade teacher in Houston, TX and including three years as Senior Associate for Communications and Partnerships at the Arts Education Partnership.  She also helped design the nation's first master's degree in arts management with a focus on community and youth development at Columbia College Chicago and worked and studied with Dr. Shirley Brice Heath, with whom she co-wrote the resource guide ArtShow: Youth and Community Development.  Laura is interested in the intersection of in-school and out-of-school time, partnership between community and youth organizations, Title I and education equity, and making research and policy information accessible to a general audience.  She is currently the program director for the California Alliance for Arts Education's Title I Initiative.