Gail Lord CM, LL.D, FCMA

Co-Founder and Partner, Lord Cultural Resources; Cultural Entrepreneur in Residence, iSchool Institute, University of Toronto

Gail Dexter Lord is one of the world’s foremost museum and cultural planners and the author of several books, including Cities, Museums and Soft Power and The Manual of Museum Management: For Museums in Dynamic Change. As co-founder and partner of Lord Cultural Resources, she is instrumental in helping museums and cultural institutions to realize their potential. Gail is the inaugural Cultural Entrepreneur in Residence at the iSchool Institute, University of Toronto.

Gail has collaborated with communities across the globe to create new museums, including the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Lowry, and Ithra. With the perspective that museums, libraries, and the arts make the world a better place, she helps cultural organizations develop strategies to adapt to change.

An engaging public speaker, Gail has presented to the American Alliance of Museums, the British Museums Association, the International Council of Museums, and the Canadian Museums Association. She is a Member of the Order of Canada and an Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de France, and she has been honoured with a doctor of letters from McMaster University.

Gail co-founded Lord Cultural Resources with her late husband, Barry Lord, in 1981 to deliver specialized planning services to museums, the arts, cultural districts, and communities. Based in Toronto, New York, and Paris, with offices in Mumbai, Los Angeles, and Madrid, Lord Cultural Resources has conducted over 2,900 assignments in 57 countries and 450 cities.