Access over gatekeeping
Talent is everywhere; opportunity isn't. My work is about building the doors — and holding them open.
About Lauren
An ecosystem builder, rooted in Detroit.
I help mission-driven organizations, founders, and students turn ambition into operations — and I make room for the people the innovation economy too often overlooks.
My story
My path started at Dillard University, a historic HBCU in New Orleans, where I graduated with honors in accounting. That training gave me a lifelong respect for the numbers — and for the systems and controls that keep an organization honest and healthy.
From there I found my way into Detroit's innovation economy — a venture fellowship at Detroit Venture Partners, strategy work at Hush, and program management at Milestone Growth Capital, a firm investing in high-potential, underrepresented founders. Everywhere I landed, I gravitated to the same thing: the operational scaffolding that lets a bold idea actually stand up.
Today I do that at scale. As Chief of Staff at Black Tech Saturdays, I help lead one of the city's fastest-growing tech-and-entrepreneurship communities. And through Embarc Business Consulting, I bring that same fractional operating support to universities, non-profits, and mission-driven startups building something that matters.
Woven through all of it is a decade of service with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and a simple conviction: that widening access to opportunity is how we build a future big enough for everyone.
Explore my workWhat drives me
The convictions behind the work
Rigor with heart
An accountant's discipline and an organizer's warmth aren't opposites. The best organizations need both.
HBCU pride, paid forward
Dillard shaped me. I show up for the next generation of HBCU talent every chance I get.
Detroit, on the rise
I believe this city is fertile soil for the next wave of technology — and I'm here to help it grow.
Community & affiliations
The rooms I'm proud to be in
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Member since 2015 — a decade of public service and sisterhood.
Black Tech Saturdays
Chief of Staff — Detroit's tech-and-entrepreneurship community.
Colorwave
Part of a national network widening access to the innovation economy.
Dillard University
Honors alumna & active supporter of HBCU talent pipelines.
Let's build something that lasts.
Whether you're planning an event, growing a mission-driven organization, or building Detroit's next chapter — I'd love to hear what you're working on.