Lauren has maintained the reputation as the black sheep in her family and long accepted that role with a smile. Not too many people can accept the credit of having enabled a cousin to go out-of-state for college, another to study abroad, another to move out of their parents' house... and who knows what else her actions have supposedly inspired or instigated.

Always chasing her dreams despite the risks and obstacles to overcome, Lauren has been adding quickly to her roster of travel and life adventures since moving to Shanghai in July 2004. Some call her brave, some call her crazy, but partly due to her bad ear and unwillingness to take "no" for an answer, she's always searching for new ground to discover. More often than not she learns something amazing, and even when she suffers defeat, she relishes in the life lessons gained.

Lauren's thirst for knowledge and her knack for making things happen has brought her deep into the ORIENTED organization, to help launch the Dialogue & Exchange Series within the first week of arriving in Shanghai.

A year and some later, there's a full team dedicated to making these quality, professional events happen. There's no better place to have the opportunity for an intimate discussion with senior executives on topics that are at the heart of China's rapid development, and Lauren is extremely proud of the D&E teams for their accomplishments.

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