Lauren Zawadzki is the Festival Director and Co-Founder of the National Festival of Making CIC. Lauren works across the full scope of the company’s activities, including strategic development, commissioning of new artistic work, stakeholder and partnership relations, fundraising and producing specific projects within the organisation’s creative portfolio.

Lauren graduated from Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts with a first class honours degree. Prior to returning to education Lauren already had a successful career in large-scale commercial construction working on some of the UK’s largest construction projects, bringing unique transferable skills to the cultural industries.

Lauren and Elena are very much a team when it comes to leading the organisation, whether it be development and strategy or the initiation of new artistic concepts and programmes. The work is varied, exciting, and challenging.

Lauren regularly returns to LIPA to give guest lectures and is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of music education charity More Music and Co-Founder of culture company Deco Publique.