With a British education emphasizing the humanities, and teaching qualifications from the University of London, Celia Luxmoore taught office practice at Community College level in the UK. After moving to Virginia, she earned a bachelor's and master's degree from the Robertson School of Communications at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her second career was in communications and fundraising, advancing secondary and higher education in Canada and the USA. She was active in professional associations, and president of the Washington DC Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and was certified in both communications and fundraising. Celia served as founding co-chair for the Humanities Research Center Community Advisory Board from 2023 to 2024.