Laura McClure Houghton

Award-winning magazine journalist and digital editor.

+1 (415) 425-2000

LAURA MCCLURE HOUGHTON is an award-winning magazine journalist and digital editor based in Silicon Valley. As a writer and editor, she has reported on the future of everything from education to toy design for TED-Ed, IDEO, Mother Jones, Salon, The Huffington Post, Bright, and Edutopia magazine. As a speaker and instructor, Laura has covered digital media trends and nonfiction writing excellence for audiences at TED-Ed Weekend, SXSW Interactive, Stanford University, USC Annenberg, UC Berkeley, the International Reporters and Editors Conference, the Roosevelt Institute, and the Writers Grotto. She is a member of the Grotto, ASJA, and IRE.

Laura is also a former International Reporting Project Editor (Liberia), Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Togo), and alumna of Carnegie Mellon University. She is currently booked through early 2023.

 LAURA MCCLURE HOUGHTON
+1 (415) 425-2000
laura@heylaura.com

SUMMARY
Innovative product leader and award-winning writer/editor with an inspiring collaboration style, a proven track record, and a passion for education.

EXPERIENCE
The Writers Grotto Writer + Editor + Teacher | June 2011–Present

The Writers Grotto is a creative community of 100+ writers and artists based in the San Francisco Bay Area. As an elected board member in 2020, I hired the first Executive Director for our newly transitioned nonprofit. Two bestselling Grotto-written books that include my creative writing prompts are: 642 Tiny Things to Write About (Chronicle, 2015) and 712 More Things To Write About (Chronicle, 2014). When I’m not writing my novel, I teach human-centered writing workshops designed to bolster creative confidence and edit corporate communications for SJR.

TED-Ed Editor + TED Ideas Editor June 2014–December 2017
TED is a nonpartisan nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks. TED-Ed is TED’s youth and education initiative. After launching the TED magazine, Ideas, I strategized with TED-Ed to design a new program for teachers: TED-Ed Innovative Educators. Both programs continue successfully to this day. I also created the first editorial style guide for TED-Ed, managed the TED-Ed blog, and wrote the script for an educational cartoon about the apostrophe.

IDEO Brand Editor | October 2011–May 2014
IDEO is a global design consultancy named by Fast Company as one of the most innovative companies in the world. As the chief editorial person at IDEO, I had the great honor of working with company leaders on ideas-driven pieces, as well as co-authoring the book Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All with David Kelley and his brother Tom (Random House, 2013). I also managed freelance writers and editors and collaborated with designers to envision, direct, and execute a range of successful print, digital, video, social, audio, and cross-platform innovations, including IDEO Stories and a 24-hour global design make-a-thon that started in London and ended in San Francisco.

Mother Jones New Media + Multimedia Editor | February 2008–June 2011
Mother Jones is an award-winning national magazine on politics and culture. While at Mother Jones, I collaborated with the tech team and the editors-in-chief to transform a legacy media operation into an offline and online powerhouse. During my tenure, Mother Jones magazine won two National Magazine Awards for General Excellence, Motherjones.com traffic broke all previous records, and we successfully created a consistent brand voice across platforms for the first time.

California Lawyer Magazine Associate Editor | August 2004–January 2008
Salon.com News + Politics Assistant Editor | May 2003–April 2004

EDUCATION
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
B.A. in Professional Writing, Minor in Communication Design

Etc.
Scholastic Writing Awards Judge 2023, ASJA Technology Journalism Awards Judge 2020 and 2019, National Congress of American Indians Youth Leadership Academy Trainer 2017, TEDSummit Educator 2016, TEDActive Presenter 2015, Stanford University Continuing Studies Teacher 2012, International Reporters and Editors Fellowship 2010, Knight Digital Media Fellowship 2008, USC Annenberg Health Journalism Fellowships 2007 and 2006, 15th GLAAD Outstanding Digital Journalism Award Winner