Executive Director

Lauren Trahan is a Southern native with an Italian heritage who has spent her life living all over the United States before settling back home in Youngsville, Louisiana. Always an entrepreneur, Lauren loved writing and started her first newspaper in the fourth grade that she sold to classmates for 25 cents. She later went on to study Journalism at The University of Southwestern Louisiana (USL) and worked for local newspapers and magazines helping to increase their audience. As a writer and lead editor for two start-up publications still in circulation in Lafayette, Lauren had the pleasure of delving into Acadiana culture writing about the history behind time-tested small businesses and eateries, local celebrities and musicians as well as trend casting current events. It was around this time that she felt a call to enter into education.

Transitioning into teaching reading and writing, Lauren enjoyed being Teacher of the Year of Vermilion Parish as well as working with the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) as a Teacher Leader Advisor and presenting curriculum and strategies to peer teachers and future educators. Her platform for public speaking took her to the state capital where she joined Stand For Children as a Lead Fellow and advocated for teachers and students during legislative sessions. After 12 years of teaching in Lafayette, Iberia, and Vermilion Parish classrooms, supported by her husband and two children, Lauren sought and earned her Masters in Educational Leadership from Northwestern State University in the Spring of 2020 and served as Assistant Principal of Abbeville High School.

Each year spent in the Acadiana community increases her aptitude for impacting the lives of future leaders and strengthens her resolve to make a difference in communities using local workforce services and educational programs available for all ages. She is a believer of the second chance, of giving 110% effort, and that the only limitations in life are the limits you set on yourself.