Taneshia Nash Laird is an accomplished leader with a remarkable career that reflects an unwavering dedication to leveraging the arts and innovation as a platform for community and economic development. In 2017, she was appointed the Executive Director of The Arts Council of Princeton, an award-winning nonprofit organization with a rich history of presenting community-focused, cultural programming in the greater Princeton, NJ region. She is only the third executive director since the organization’s founding in 1967 and the first one of color.

A graduate of Bernard Baruch College with an extensive career in business development, project management, strategic communications, and contract negotiation, Nash Laird has lead initiatives that have revitalized distressed communities and caused them to thrive. She has been featured in the New York Times, Ebony, and Rolling Out, and regularly gives talks across the country on the intersection of the arts, innovation and economic development, and social entrepreneurship.