Lauren M. Woods is the program manager for Press Forward Chicago at The Chicago Community Trust.
In this role, she is responsible for leading grantmaking initiatives that support local journalism, media, and civic storytelling in the Chicago region. Lauren is an experienced civic practitioner whose work has focused on creating the conditions to deepen engagement and build capacity for citizens to be active participants of our democracy.
Prior to joining the Trust, Lauren managed the district-wide Service-Learning Initiative at Chicago Public Schools and directed the Midwest educational partnership strategy for an international nonprofit, WE. As an artist and fourth generation Chicagoan, Lauren believes in the transformational power of narrative and storytelling to activate community and spark systems change.
