Laura is an expert on mentoring, leader development, and developing optimal relationships. Her work includes over 40 case studies, chapters, and articles on leadership, mentorship dysfunction, optimizing mentoring relationships, mentor benefits, and evaluating mentoring.

Her work has been cited in Inc. Magazine, BBC Business News and featured by the European Mentoring and Coaching Council. She has authored A Handbook for Managing Mentoring Programs (https://www.routledge.com/A-Handbook-for-Managing-Mentoring-Programs-Starting-Supporting-and-Sustaining/Lunsford/p/book/9781472463227) and co-authored and co-edited books focused on leadership development and mentoring, including the Sage Handbook of Mentoring (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/the-sage-handbook-of-mentoring/book245790). She frequently consults with organizations on mentoring and leadership.

The first in her family to graduate from a university, she earned her BA and PhD in Psychology at NC State University, with time at the University of NC, Greensboro for her MA. She was the 2009 recipient of the International Mentoring Association’s Dr. Hope Richardson Dissertation Award. Dr. Lunsford as worked at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, Park Scholarships at NC State University, University of Arizona, the Swain Center for Executive Education in UNC Wilmington and a professor and chair of psychology at Campbell University.