POSSIBLE FUTURES CONSULTING

My deepest core value is collaboration.  

During my tenure as executive director at the Jazz Institute of Chicago I cultivated lasting relationships with civic agencies that resulted in programs for the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the Chicago Park District and with cultural institutions across the city.  I built an international partnership that introduced Chicago’s artists to Poznan, Poland and created a vibrant jazz community there.  I realized a personal goal of developing leadership and encouraging women jazz artists by building a community of support and opportunities for young women to be mentored by the women of Chicago jazz.

I invited educators and artists to collaborate in developing the education programs at the Jazz Institute of Chicago. In 2020, in response to the limitations of the pandemic, I worked together with educators to develop local and international virtual programs for the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic. 

I am a veteran arts leader with 30+ years of’ experience in developing arts-focused community-resourced programs in the Chicago area and abroad.  While my work has been focused through the lens of jazz (itself a metaphor for collaboration) the practice translates to any discipline. Some methods that I use are:

• Invite input from all participants in designing programs and success metrics to increase longevity and success

• Empower staff to determine what success means to them to improve morale and build stronger organizational identity

• Facilitate brainstorming sessions between disparate organizations to create an infrastructure for community action, cohesion and collectivity

• Help design mutually agreed goals between partnering organizations

• Recognize and respect that those on the front lines know what they need

I spent more than a quarter-century helping to build Chicago’s jazz ecosystem; creating programs to strengthen jazz educators so they could continue to have the energy and motivation to raise the next generation of jazz musicians; providing contexts for jazz students to develop as leaders; ensuring that newly minted jazz artists had opportunities to develop and perform new work and that elders continued to be given chances to teach, mentor and perform.

My background in community organizing and as a visual artist may seem unlikely building blocks for a long and effective career as an arts leader, but they are the foundation for the three main keys to my success: my passion for the arts, my belief that access to the arts empowers both its creators and its participants and the fact that I am an excellent improviser.  JIC board member Dr. Timuel Black said “Lauren’s superpower is in identifying the needs of our community and creating successful strategies to meet those needs.”

Engaging someone from outside of your organization to look at what its future possibilities might be is valuable because it brings fresh perspectives and an ability to view the current paradigm through a new lens.