Team Amplify Africa USA

Lauren is one of the few women in the male dominated fields in technology. Throughout out her career, she has presented over 20 times at national and international conferences, she has moderated tech panels and was the Emcee for Governor Sandoval’s entrepreneurship pitch competition in 2016. Lauren has published articles industry magazines such as Knowledge Management Magazine, Smashed, and Customer Think on topics such as On-line Communities and Leadership. She has contributed to chapters in books such as; #DearFemaleFounder and Knowledge Management books from a variety of authors.

She has worked for major companies like Hitachi, Cisco, VISA, Micron, Nestle, Sunrise Telecommunications in Zurich, Seattle Space Labs ATT, HP, Alestra, Iusacell and MCI in Mexico City, and a variety of startups.

She was received various awards, such as Reno People Project Honoree amongst 150 individuals recognized for making an impact in the City of Reno for the sesquicentennial birthday, the 2018 eDAWN Trailblazer Award and was one of two hundred national nominees who attended the White House South By South Lawn (SXSL) event on October 3rd, 2016. She won the 2016 NCET Technology Advocate – Ecosystem Award and 2016 Girl Scouts of Sierra Nevada Inspiration Award for Women of Leadership. #DearFemaleFounder.

She has keynoted for National Charity League Annual Meeting 2018 of Sierra Nevada and Microsoft Reno DigiGirlz 2015. An invited speaker for ABWA Reno-Tahoe Express, UNR Student Delta Chi organization, Change Makers 2017 Reno program. She is often judging business plan or technology competitions such as the UNR Sontag, Governor’s Cup and Space Apps Challenge and the Microsoft Reno Hackathon.

Lauren owns Girlmade which powers the Brekkie for Bosses program and the Girl Empire un-conference.

1964 to 1972 worked at Simplex Toys, a small regional toy distributor selling quality toys to specialty toy stores.

1972 to 2004 owner and CEO of Small World Toys. National distributor of specialty toys and educational products to small stores and school distributors. Sold business in 2004 and retired.

1986 to 1996: Member of TEC. The Executive Committee. A business group that met on a monthly basis. Every meeting had a guest speaker on different subjects, and every afternoon the group of 15 members acted as a board of advisors for the group to discuss member issues.

1991 to 2002. A member and staff member of The Mankind Project. An organization to help men to understand their feelings. How to integrate the brain and the heart.

2008 to present. A volunteer member of Parent to Parent. A local program working with the Woman’s Center in South Lake Tahoe. The program provides supervised visits for families experiencing domestic violence.

Currently doing the volunteer work, consulting and enjoying life.

I have a B.A. degree in communications and am proud to have been an entrepreneur with 13 years of experience running a destination event planning business. Experienced in weddings, group sales, hospitality and tourism, I have also had the pleasure of working as the Executive Director for the Tahoe Tallac Association. Although outside my wheelhouse, I gained experience working with volunteers, artists, fundraising for the arts and historic preservation and writing grants to support the non-profit organization.

I have been the president of the Lake Tahoe Wedding and Honeymoon Association for 2 terms, president of the Weddings of the West Association, committee board member of the South Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce and a current member of NACE.