We welcome our new Associate Editorial Director
As The Mixed Museum enters its fourth year, we’re growing the team by creating a new role aimed at strengthening our editorial output.
We’re delighted to announce that Laura Smith, a longstanding ‘friend of the museum’, is joining us as Associate Editorial Director.
Having joined the team behind the scenes over the summer, Laura has already made her mark by helping us launch our monthly newsletter, The Lowdown, and our new longform interview series, In Conversation with The Mixed Museum.
About Laura
Laura started her career as a news reporter for the Evening Standard and The Guardian, and her work as a journalist has also appeared in Positive News, The Independent, The Observer, Marie Claire and Stella Magazine.
Having also worked as a communications consultant in the public and charity sector and spent five years in editorial leadership roles at the content agency Speak Media, she brings deep knowledge of how to connect with audiences.
Writing mixed race stories
Through her writing, Laura has explored her own Black mixed race background, and sought to put it into a wider context. Back in 2011, she collaborated with The Mixed Museum Director Dr Chamion Caballero on coverage for The Guardian of her research with TMM Co-Founder Dr Peter Aspinall about historic racial mixing in the UK, which formed the foundations of the BBC2 2011 series Mixed Britannia. Chamion and Laura's paths first crossed however in 2007, when Laura covered Chamion's work with Professor Rosalind Edwards on the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report of the pair's two year study into parents in mixed race families in Britain.
I’ve done a lot of different things in my career, but they all have one thing in common: storytelling. I really believe in the power of stories to change culture for the better. That’s why I’m so excited to join The Mixed Museum – what it has already achieved in changing the narrative about what counts as British history is amazing. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
Laura Smith
Chamion Caballero, Director of The Mixed Museum, said: “In our fourth year as a digital museum, it’s satisfying to be building such a talented team to help take us to the next stage. Laura has already made a big impact on our editorial output, and we look forward to seeing what else her eagle editorial eye can bring to everything we do.”