As chief education and community engagement officer, Deborah Grayson furthers the Society’s mission to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world by amplifying and extending the work of National Geographic Explorers into classrooms and communities. She also advances the organization’s vision for educators and learners of all ages to develop an “Explorer Mindset” — the knowledge, skills and abilities Explorers use to solve the world’s most challenging problems.

As a member of the senior leadership team, Grayson serves as an internal and external champion of the Society’s education and community engagement initiatives. She oversees the development of partnerships and products that bring the organization’s educational approach to educators and learners around the world. She also leads the Society’s strategy to build relationships and drive engagements with key collaborators including Explorers, educators, learners of all ages and businesses. Grayson plays a vital role in the development of new high-impact, revenue-generating, education and community-related initiatives that advance the Society’s sustainable business model.

Grayson has more than 20 years of experience leading a variety of leadership, learning and organizational development initiatives in the United States and internationally. She served as the senior director of Leadership and Organizational Development at the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), where she designed and implemented a strategy for leadership and learning in support of research library leaders who are making significant shifts given changes in research, teaching and learning. Grayson also previously served as vice provost of Learning Design and Experience at University of Maryland Global Campus, where she and her team provided a mix of services that included the design and development of online courses, creation of open educational resources, design and implementation of global learning systems, development and implementation of blended learning solutions, and program development and management.

Grayson’s current scholarly and artistic interests focus on the intersection of science, technology and culture. She earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in American studies from Michigan State University, and her B.A. in English literature from the University of Maryland, College Park.