Lauren Melcher

Programming Director

Lauren is a strategist of all things digital at Weber Shandwick. She specializes in online engagement and crisis management for companies in the consumer marketing and farm and food industries. She is also the co-host of TECHdotMN TV, a contributor to TECHdotMN covering female tech entrepreneurship, and an occasional blogger for the Huffington Post.

As a twenty-something, Lauren was the co-founder of Alive Magazine and the Alive Arts Media REACH Internship Program. She also has experience in political campaign communications, interned with New Hampshire Public Radio, and worked for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press while studying journalism at American University in Washington D.C. Before calling Minnesota home, Lauren lived in Texas and Califorina.

She admits she cannot leave a bookstore empty-handed and is happiest when she's planning trips abroad or cooking in her 110-year-old farmhouse.  Why is Lauren a part of MIMA? "I love being around innovative and entrepreneurial-type people, so I was drawn to the group for its relevant programming and the chance to meet local people doing interesting things."