After a four month long search we are over the moon to announce that Lauren Burke will become SPACE on Ryder Farm’s first-ever Managing Director, beginning full time on April 13th. Lauren’s wide and varied career has allowed her to work at non profits of all shapes and sizes around the country, first as an attorney, then as a founder herself. Lauren has deep experience helping nonprofits form, grow and navigate change. After spending most of 2017 living in a van and providing legal services in rural areas of the country, Lauren has spent the past three years running The Possible LAB where she supports founders, non profits and the institutions that support them to create a better world. Lauren states,
“Each and every one of us is thinking deeply about our lives like never before and I can think of no greater organization that speaks to the possible beauty of this exact moment in time than SPACE. In these moments of quiet solitude I find myself coming back to that which matters most; the budding magnolia outside my window, a favorite poem that has comforted me for years and those with whom I choose to spend my time. We will hopefully emerge from this tragedy with a renewed understanding of the magic of everyday life, a magic which SPACE harnesses, and cultivates and shares with the artists and activists who feed our souls and push us forward. I am humbled by what SPACE has created and am honored to be a part of the organization’s future.”
Lauren has been named a Skadden Fellow for public interest lawyers, an Echoing Green Fellow for International Social Entrepreneurs and a Forbes 30 Under 30 in law and policy. Her work, writings and ideas have been featured in the New York Times, on All Things Considered and in four documentary films. Along with The Possible LAB, she is the founder of Atlas: DIY, Immigration Nation and Notehouse. We cannot wait to welcome her to the farm and this community. Please join us in welcoming Lauren!