Lauren Edwards

Lauren Edwards is the Executive Director of SEA Change, the Principal/Owner of Next Step Business Consulting, and together with her husband own the Social Enterprise Apex Leadership Co of Central Ohio. She is also a Lecturer in both the City and Regional Planning (Knowlton) and Non-Profit Management (Glenn) Departments at the Ohio State University. Her passion lies in helping organizations and individuals alleviate poverty through program and business development, vision realization, and facilitated conversation.

Lauren is the Owner and Principal of Next Step Business Consulting, where she works tirelessly alongside clients to expand capacity through program development, social enterprise, and logistics and process design. Lauren is a highly regarded lecturer and facilitator; she has been invited as a guest speaker to more than 50 central Ohio organizations. She also currently sits on the board of the YMCA of Central Ohio – downtown Y, and was honored to be a part of the Columbus Business First 2020 class of 40 Under 40. As the Executive Director of SEA Change, Lauren has played a role in guiding hundreds of organizations through their social enterprise training program. In 2018 these alumni earned over $2.3 million in revenue and impacted over 350,000 lives.

After earning her Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning from The Ohio State University, Lauren gained experience in working with government, private practice, and non-profit organizations before launching her firm.

Lauren lives in Grandview Heights with her husband and three daughters.