Bridget Colman

Bridget Colman graduated with an M.A. in the History of Design and Curatorial Studies from the joint program at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and Parsons School of Design, NY. She is Canadian born, and having spent years living in France, Japan, and the UK, she settled with her husband and two daughters in NYC. Her focus on design and social history led to projects at The Sir John Soane Museum, National Portrait Gallery of London, The Attingham Trust, and Strawberry Hill. She currently sits on the Boards of The American Friends of the National Portrait Gallery of London and The Branksome Hall Foundation. She worked with PEN America in 2014 to found PEN Myanmar, a human rights organization for authors, writers, and journalists.

Her foundation, established in Canada, initiates and supports projects based on exploring beyond the constrictions of geographical, cultural, and society’s tethers. The support of education has become the conduit of this work. In Canada with committed relationships at McGill, The University of Western Ontario, and Branksome Hall and in the U.S. with work done to forge programs across international borders at Harvard, The Brearley School, Brooklyn Friends Academy, and the National Outdoor Leadership School, Bridget sought ways to develop initiatives that let young people feel capable achieving goals they considered beyond their reach. Bridget sees the GSD as a force to acknowledge intellectually the might of design in uniting the academic schools of thought at Harvard and by extension beyond. She is a parent of the College class of 2021.