Constance L. Royster is the principal of Laurel Associates LLC. She is a recognized fundraising, education, non-profit, and organizational leader. Her legal background provides her with significant expertise that has been invaluable to the institutional and individual leaders who have sought her out in times of transition, strategic decision-making, or crisis management. Those combined experiences are the foundation of her consulting practice and client engagements.
Ms. Royster has eighteen years of experience in leading fundraising roles at two iconic cultural and academic institutions. She 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 for a decade as director of development at the Yale Divinity School. She developed strategies for capital, annual, special and planned giving campaigns, and hired and managed implementation teams. Ms. Royster is known for her unique abilities to nurture and cultivate relationships across the cultural, economic, and international spectrum.
J.D., Rutgers University Law School
B.A. cum laude, Yale University
Graduate of the
Community Leadership Program
Certified in International Systemic Team Coaching, Boardsource Nonprofit Board Consulting, and gender, diversity, & inclusion management
In addition to her work in direct fundraising, Ms. Royster created, staffed, and implemented external and public relations programs (including global conferences and campaigns in both print and video) leading to national and international attention for her graduate and professional school units and for the university. She organized countless civic engagements with notables including numerous members of Congress, former Prime Minister Tony Blair, and journalist and political commentator E. J. Dionne, to name just a couple.
A lawyer by training, prior to her work in the non-profit field, Ms. Royster was a law clerk to The Honorable Damon J. Keith on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, an associate a Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York, and was a founding partner and managing partner at Cooper, Liebowitz, Royster & Wright, a major minority and women owned New York law firm. Under her leadership, the firm grew substantially in size and reputation, with a client base of Fortune 100 and 500 corporations and United States Government entities.
Known for her outstanding people skills, Ms. Royster has advised senior university leaders, as well as secondary school heads and non-profit leaders. She has long been a leader and volunteer in multiple alumni networks, and served on the first board of governors of the Association of Yale Alumni. She has a deep perspective on town-gown, student life, and post-matriculation loyalty issues.
Ms. Royster is deeply committed to civic responsibility and has been entrusted with leadership positions at numerous national, local, and international organizations. The Community Foundation of Greater New Haven, Fund for Women and Girls, International Festival of Arts & Ideas, Dwight Hall at Yale - Center for Public Service and Social Justice, Federal Bar Council, and Yale Alumni Fund, are but a few of the boards that have benefited from her wisdom. She is a strong advocate for education, culture and equity.
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. A justice of the peace, she has received certificate training for gender, diversity and inclusion management, International Systemic Team Coaching, and Boardsource Nonprofit Board Consulting, and is a graduate of the Community Leadership Program.
Client Organizations
| Community Foundation for Greater New Haven |
| Southern Connecticut State University School of Business |
Artspace | Lincoln Hall Boys' Haven | L.E.A.P.
Yale Humanist Community | Friends Center for Children
P.L.A.C.E. Children's Museum | Christian Community Action
Community Healing Network | New Haven Legal Assistance
Westville Village Renaissance Alliance | Guilford Art Center ARC of Greater New Haven, Inc. | New Haven Museum | Solar Youth
Advising, Mentee and Coaching Clients
Deans at an Ivy League University | Independent school heads
Multifaith leaders | Midcareer professionals in transition
Women of color in diversity-challenged professions | Young professionals | College and professional school graduates |
Civic and Professional Affiliations
William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund, Board of Trustees. 2019-present
Open Communities Alliance, Board of Directors. 2015-present, Co-Chair 2016-present
International Festival of Arts and Ideas, Board of Directors. 2009-2017
Dwight Hall at Yale, Board of Directors. Vice-Chair & Board Member 2008-2011, Chair 2011-2015, Building Committee 2015-2017
Yale Alumni Fund, Board of Directors. 2010-2016
Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame, Honorary Advisory Committee. Recommended 2013 Honorees, 2013
Elizabethan Club, Board of Directors. 2011-2013
Connecticut Mental Health Center Foundation, Board of Trustees. 2008-2011
Colony Foundation (Berzelius Senior Society), Board of Trustees. 2007-2014
Outstanding Woman of Connecticut. 2003
FilmFest New Haven, Board of Directors. 2003-2006
Conservation Commission Town of Bethany. 2003-2006
LEAP Year Event Development Committee. 2003-2013
Community Foundation of Greater New Haven, Fund for Women and Girls, Advisory Board. 2001-2007
International Visitor Program, U.S. Department of State, Fairfield County Chair. 2001-2003
U.N. Association and U.N. Hospitality Committee of Fairfield County. 2000-2004
Friends in Adoption, Board of Directors. 1999-2005
Federal Bar Council, Board. 1997-2003
Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, Children's Task Force. 1997-1998
Twixt Hills Tax District and Homeowners Association, Board of Directors. 1995-1998
The Second Circuit Task Force on Race, Gender, and Ethnicity. 1994
Merit Selection Panel for U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, Southern District of New York. 1994
The Jury Project Task Force of the Chief Judge of New York. Co-Chair, The Jury Experience Sub-committee 1993
Merit Selection Panel for U.S. Magistrate Judge, Southern District of New York. 1992
The Moscow Conference on Law and Economic Cooperation, The Kremlin. 1990
Wykeham Rise School, Board of Trustees. 1969-1979, 1984-1988
Association of Yale Alumni, Board of Governors. 1972-1976