Lauren Green

Owner and Executive Director

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As an experienced visual facilitator, graphic recorder, ICF-certified coach and leadership development trainer, Lauren Green believes in the power of visualization to support productive and dynamic group processes and knowledge management. She is recognized for her high-energy and ability to fuel connectivity and engagement. Her deep understanding of group dynamics means that sessions are always designed both to target desired goals and create a safe space for unearthing concerns. 

 

Lauren has an extensive toolkit of modalities for designing inclusive, engaging and productive sessions, both in person and in the virtual environment. With a social media followership of more than 2,000 people and having managed online communities for more than 10 years, Lauren is well-versed in the nuances of building and sustaining connection in the online space. 

 

Lauren serves across all industries, with a particular expertise in supporting government entities, military and defense operations, healthcare organizations, first responders, non-profit organizations, higher education institutions, animal welfare organizations, professional associations, hospitality groups, and performing artists. 

 

Lauren is the owner and executive director of Dancing with Markers, a team of visual practitioners who hold space for individuals, teams and organizations, as they work towards their vision and achieve their goals. Lauren is a partner and associate with Lizard Brain, a team of high in-demand facilitators and visual consultants. She is also an associate with several Washington, DC area visual practitioner networks, including Wayfind, Crowley & Company, and See in Colors. Prior to founding Dancing with Markers, Lauren was a full-time member of the OGSystems Visioneering team, a high-performing group of visual practitioners who are well-recognized across the government and intelligence community for their use of world-class visuals to achieve breakthroughs. 

 

Lauren holds a master's degree in Organization Development and Knowledge Management from George Mason University and a bachelor’s of fine arts degree in dance from SUNY University at Buffalo. Lauren is an International Coach Federation certified coach and an MBTI® and EQi (emotional intelligence) Practitioner. Lauren is trained to deliver the DiSC Workplace Assessment and also certified to facilitate using the Grove Consultants International Team Performance Model.

PHOTO CREDIT:

RAY MARTINEZ

Lauren's Origin Story

Lauren is grateful for the knowledge that each of her mentors continues to share and the partners she now has. 

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The goal of this video is to help others find their path to visual note-taking. If you're watching this, please take a moment to share this with someone who may be looking for support.

Produced by Caitlin Murray

Academic History

George Mason University

M.S. in Organization Development and Knowledge Management, 2016

 

State University of New York at Buffalo

B.F.A. in Dance, 2009​

Certifications

Coaching Certification, International Coaches Federation, 2020 

Myers Briggs Type Indicator, The Myers-Briggs Company, 2019

EQi 2.0 and EQi 360, Otto Kroeger Associates, 2019

Drexler/Sibbet Team Performance Model, Grove Consultants International, 2018

Impact's Team Performance Indicator, Otto Kroeger Associates, 2019

Skills and Experience

Trained and experienced in facilitating using organization development, knowledge management, change management, leadership development, systems thinking, team development and norming, Appreciative Inquiry, and human-centered design modalities 

 

Specialties include: Graphic Facilitation, Strategic Visioning, Appreciative Inquiry Summits, World Cafes, Open Space Technology, Design Sprints, Innovation Workshops, Team-Building Retreats, Group Dynamics, Lean Startup, Liberating Structures, Blue Ocean Strategy, and Motion Theatre

 

30 years of experience in movement and kinesthetic intelligence study

 

10 years of experience facilitating virtual meetings and managing online communities

 

10 years of experience in holistic strategic communications planning and consulting

 

10 years of experience in visual communications design (social media, graphic design, video design)

 

6 years of experience facilitating in person strategic planning, design thinking, team-building and other group process meetings and conferences 

 

5 years of experience in graphic recording and digital scribing for conferences, workshops, seminars, meetings, and courses, both online and in person 

 

5 years of experience in career and leadership coaching, with a special focus on diversity and inclusion, self-care, resilience, and personal visioning

Additional Study

Visual Facilitation 

Lizard Brain, Think with Ink and See Your Ideas 

Lean Start Up Company 

LUMA Institute, Design Thinking Workshop

Safe Agile 4.0

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Virtual Facilitation 

Grove Consultants International, Facilitating Virtual Collaboration

Virtual Collaboration Campus, Virtual Collaboration.Works

Patrick Lencioni, Five Dysfunctions of Virtual Teams

 

Coaching and Professional Development 

Co-active Training Institute

DiSC Workplace Assessment

 

Graphic Recording

Crowley & Co., Drawing People Out  

Kelvy Bird, Visual Practice Workshop

Heather Martinez, Level Up Your Lettering Workshop

 

Movement and Kinesthetic Intelligence

Jess Grippo, You Can Dance Again 

Esalen Institute, Five Rhythms and Motion Theatre

Professional Experience

Owner and Executive Director, Dancing with Markers, LLC, Fairfax, VA, 2017-Present

Coached and facilitated individuals, teams and organizations using leading practices in visual and virtual facilitation, organization development, knowledge management, and strategic communications. 

 

Associate and Partner, Lizard Brain Solutions, LLC, Herndon, VA, 2015-Present

Facilitated individuals, teams and organizations using leading practices in visual and virtual facilitation, organization development, knowledge management, and strategic communications. 

 

Visioneer, OGSystems, Chantilly, VA, 2016-Present

Facilitated small groups, teams, and workshops, drawing on leading practices in organization development, strategic communications, design thinking, and graphic facilitation.

 

Organizational Effectiveness Consultant, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Herndon, VA, 2015-2016

Facilitated and designed materials for off-sites, leadership check-ins, branding sessions, and team-building activities; provide graphic recording in support of meetings and activities.

 

Digital Communications Associate, American Educational Research Association (AERA), Washington, DC, 2013-2015

Managed online community and supported holistic social media strategy for large-scale Annual Meeting. 

 

Communications and Digital Media Specialist, Washington Humane Society (WHS), Washington DC, 2012-2013

Managed online community and supported digital media presence. 

 

Online Community Manager, Dancin’ Unlimited Jazz Dance Company (DUJDC), Alexandria, VA, 2012-2014 

Built and sustained online presence and virtual footprint. 

 

Junior Publicist, Linda Roth Associates, Inc., Arlington, VA, 2012

Organized promotional events and launched targeted media campaigns. 

 

Freelance Writer for Print and Online Media, Dance Teacher Magazine, Dance Studio Life Magazine, The Buffalo News, Buffalo Spree Magazine, danceDC Blog, 2008-2012

Wrote articles, blogs, and other print and online published material of interest.

Key Projects

Visual Note-Taking 

Graphic recorded for 20 sessions during the two-day Women in Medicine Summit in 2019. Recordings were displayed on foam boards and arranged along an entire hallway, offering a visual timeline of key takeaways from the entire conference. 

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Graphic recorded 10 sessions over a two year project cycle for American Heart Association. The project aimed to bring stroke patients and stakeholders together to design an application that would support stroke patients in their recovery. As each session included different stakeholders, graphic recording enabled facilitators to quickly orient the participants to work done previously, so that it could be built on. As a result of the sessions, a prototype of the application was completed, having been influenced by over 100 stakeholders throughout the process. 

 

Visual and Virtual Facilitation 

Designed and co-facilitated a day-long customer experience for a leadership team of 10, with the objective of driving new value for the virtual customer experience.

 

Designed and co-facilitated a three day leadership summit for a high-conflict management team within a federal organization of around 80 people aimed to design strategic roadmaps for improving the employee engagement and hiring experience. The third day included an impromptu open dialogue that led to the beginning of an important healing process for the organization. 

 

Designed and led a half-day design thinking session for a national public health conference with 300 participants. The objective was for participants at each table to design a solution to address the opioid epidemic for a target population group of their choice. At the end,, 50 ideas were harvested. 

 

Designed and facilitated a half-day performance measures planning meeting for an intact team of 10 to design meaningful metrics that would communicate program progress to upper leadership. The team overcame initial resistance to the idea of metrics and designed at least one feasible measure for each part of their program. 

 

Designed and co-facilitated a day-long team-building leadership retreat for 50 healthcare organization managers designed to bring the team closer together. Over the following six months, two half-day managers’ meetings were facilitated, the first using an Open Space style session to identify top areas of interest for the organization. During the second session, roadmaps were developed for the top five areas of interest.

 

Designed and co-facilitated a day-long Open Space conference for 160 community members and policy makers aimed to address homelessness in Houston, TX. Around 50 sessions in total were convened. All notes, flipcharts, and contact lists charts were compiled and reported back to the planning committee, who worked to incorporate the major themes into their strategic plans. 

 

Designed and co-facilitated five, half-day Blue Ocean strategy sessions, over the course of four months, for a group of 14 leaders aimed at designing strategies that would help the organization innovate its portfolio. The process involved analyzing the organization and its existing competitive strategy; understanding the landscape of potential customers; and designing a future strategy with two working prototypes. 

 

Consulting and Training 

Supported a learning and development team in designing a six week (90 minute/week) coaching training program for new internal performance coaches inside of an airline data and technology firm, focused on essential and ethical coaching skills, such as listening, asking questions, self awareness, and coaching through conflict. Deliverables included training designs, feedback, and mentoring the team on coaching best practices. Because the training took place during COVID-19 quarantine, all programs were designed to be engaging in a virtual setting. Each consulting session included updates on how the training sessions were going, and positive feedback was consistently provided that the coaches-in-training were engaged, enthusiastic and applying the skills in their new roles. Following the successful completion of the six week program, Dancing with Markers was invited to continue support through guiding the next cohort of coaches.

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Interviewed a 10 person leadership team in a larger intelligence organization for the purposes of better understanding communication challenges. Compiled core themes and recommendations into a report, which was used to design a three day off-site for the whole organization, around 30 people, aimed at setting target goals and action committees for the coming year. Participated in post-offsite meetings to continue momentum following the off-site. Supported four members of the leadership team in individual leadership coaching designed to improve their ability to work with each other and lead diverse teams. 

 

Leadership and Career Coaching

Facilitated three graduate student cohorts through a first semester group dynamics experience, where a group of six to eight students learns to navigate ambiguity and better understand themselves and how they are experienced in groups they are a part of. 

 

Designed and delivered a six week group coaching experience for a cohort of seven individuals seeking self-care and renewed vision during COVID-19. Cohort program contained six modules aimed to stimulate attention to individual success models and build confidence in each person’s ability to achieve their goals. 

 

Visual Communications 

Designed and co-facilitated a half-day strategic planning session for a non-profit board of 50 people aimed to solidify the strategic goals for their upcoming fiscal year. Session outputs were written into a report format with a customized visual attached to effectively communicate the strategic vision and guiding pillars. 

 

Designed and facilitated a half-day American Heart Association community action committee meeting of 20 people aimed to better understand the patient journey from hospital to home in the City of Baltimore, MD. A customized visual was created to facilitate the conversation. The final visual was redrawn digitally and used to support strategic planning for 2019. 

 

Partnered with a leadership team of two to create a hand drawn graphic recording that visualized the company’s history from 1989 through 2009. Facilitated a day-long company retreat for the team of 10 with the goal of bringing the team closer together, introducing visual energizers, and harvesting content that would complete the history chart to date. The history chart was professionally installed in their headquarters. 

Publications and Presentations

Publications 

  • Green, Lauren. “5 Steps to Stay Focused When Teaching Online.” Harvard Business Publishing: Education. 2020

  • Green, Lauren. “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Coping with Teachers Who Tread on Your Turf.” Dance Studio Life Magazine, 2011. 

  • Green, Lauren. “On the Move: Parsons Dance Comes to Buffalo.” The Buffalo News, 2010. 

  • Green, Lauren. “Recital Planning for Rookies.” Dance Studio Life Magazine, 2010. 

  • Green, Lauren. “Enter in Silence.” Dance Teacher Magazine, 2009.

  • Green, Lauren. “Battle of the Budget.” Dance Teacher Magazine, 2008.

 

Presentations

  • George Mason University Dance Department Senior Synthesis Guest Speaker, 2018, 2019, 2020

  • International Forum of Visual Practitioners Conference Panel, Biz Lessons from Pivoting, Washington, DC, 2020

  • Mid-Atlantic Facilitators Network, Listening Like a Pro, Online Workshop, 2020

  • A Note of Daring Podcast Guest Speaker, “Jumping Off Cliffs”, 2020 

  • Engage Video Marketing Podcast Guest Speaker, 2020

  • Fairfax High School Academy Awards Night Guest Speaker, Fairfax, VA, 2019 

  • Montclair University Organization Development Course Guest Speaker, 2017 and 2018

  • International Forum of Visual Practitioners Conference, Building Community Orbits, Washington, DC, 2016

  • International Forum of Visual Practitioners Conference, Facilitation for Graphic Recorders, Montclair State University, 2019

  • Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Conference, Executive Presence, Baltimore, MD, 2015

Honors and Awards

  • Fairfax High School Academy Program, Distinguished Alumni Award, 2019

  • OGSystems, Employee of the Month, 2016

  • OGSystems, SPOT Award, 2017 

  • Northrop Grumman Corporation, STAR Award, 2016

  • Washington Business Journal, Person on the Move, 2012

Professional Associations

International Forum of Visual Practitioners, 2016-Present

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International Coach Federation, 2020-Present

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Organization Development Network, 2018-2020

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Dance Metro DC, 2018-Present