Public education has been the main focus of Lola Van Wagenen’s professional and intellectual life since 1970. Over the last 30 years she has both founded and served as executive officer, adviser, or board member for numerous educational and public interest organizations.

In 1970, Van Wagenen co-founded Consumer Action Now, a not-for-profit education organization in New York City. CAN established a variety of consumer-environmental education programs to demonstrate the relationship between consumer buying habits and the environment. For more than a decade she worked to advance environmental and women’s issues.

In 1982 Van Wagenen received a B.A. from Vermont College, and in 1984 finished her Master’s Degree in the Public History program at New York University. After completing her Ph.D. in American History in 1993 at NYU, Van Wagenen co-founded Clio Inc., Visualizing History. She hoped to integrate her experience in education and public interest with her academic background—to bring American history to a broad public audience and meet the growing need for innovative history education projects in multiple media platforms.

For Clio, Van Wagenen served as an executive producer for Miss America: A Documentary Film, which aired on the PBS “American Experience” in January 2002 and December 2004. She is also the executive producer for Catching the Shadow: Women at Photography in the 19th Century, which received scripting funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities and is the basis for the Clio photography exhibits.

In 2002, Clio changed its corporate structure from a company that provided services and developed projects for clients to a not-for-profit organization that focuses exclusively on its own American history educational projects through documentary films, the World Wide Web and other new media projects. Van Wagenen currently produces all of Clio’s online exhibits, selecting each project and working directly with the authors and advisors.

Lola Van Wagenen has been appointed to a variety of national organizations and committees that work on behalf of women, children, history, and the environment. She has served as a commissioner for United Nations International Year of the Child, a board member for the U.S. Committee for UNICEF, and a board member for the National Audubon Society. Currently she serves on the board of Shelburne Farms and is a trustee of the Vermont Historical Society.