Laura Clymer

As APQC’s Director of Research, Laura A. Clymer oversees research processes and the Research Services team that supports and ensures the timely development and dissemination of elevated, high-value content to APQC’s members. Laura brings more than two decades of extensive experience in Global 100 companies, excelling in areas including market research strategy, content and curriculum development, and corporate tool selection and implementation.

She directs APQC research team’s efforts in generating and analyzing granular data as well as curating firsthand interviews with organizations to gain qualitative, best practice examples. The end results allow APQC members to access actionable, proven, problem-solving content. As a member of APQC’s leadership team, Laura is also responsible for working with the organization’s senior leadership in defining ongoing forward-looking research strategies. 

Before joining APQC, Laura was GitLab’s Director, Market Strategy and Insight. In that position, she developed and launched the company’s first SMB-focused end-user messaging survey. The intelligence gathered from the process helped GitLab better refine its marketing, messaging, and branding efforts to its audience, while also implementing guidelines for future research. Laura also led the analyst relations team, helping to deliver outstanding Magic Quadrant and Wave results. 

Laura’s background includes product management and internal business process definition leadership positions with notable companies like Gartner and Rackspace. In these roles, she was responsible for information architecture and internal/external methodology development and support, analysis of consumer and business behavior analytics, development and implementation of communication and training deliverables, and creation of robust research-based methodologies.

She shares her experience and skills with others as an adjunct professor and guest lecturer at several higher-learning institutions.

Laura received her MBA with a concentration in computer science, management information systems from St. Edwards University. She holds a Master of Arts in English education from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree from UCLA.

Additionally, she earned her ITIL Foundation Level Certification from the Institute for Information Sciences in the Netherlands and PMP certification from the PMI Austin Chapter.