Lauren Shelton is a nationally recognized arts education leader, strategist, and consultant committed to expanding equitable access to the arts and fostering inclusive, community-driven learning environments. With a career spanning classroom teaching, nonprofit leadership, and university administration, she brings a systems-level approach to program development, policy alignment, and creative workforce support.
Lauren began her career as a classroom teacher and choral conductor, later creating the Community Opus Project with the San Diego Youth Symphony—an award-winning, El Sistema–inspired initiative that used music education as a pathway to academic achievement and neighborhood revitalization. As Visual & Performing Arts Coordinator for the Chula Vista Elementary School District, she led the implementation of a $18 million arts education plan, hired and trained over 120 credentialed arts teachers, and re-established daily arts instruction across the district for the first time in more than 30 years. During this time, she also served as adjunct faculty for the El Sistema-inspired Master of Arts in Teaching Program at the Longy School of Music of Bard College, preparing future educators in culturally responsive and student-centered teaching practices.
At Butler University, Lauren served as Director of the Butler Community Arts School (BCAS), where she introduced culturally relevant programming, expanded access to instruction for over 2,000 students annually, and launched a teaching artist training program that supported over 150 emerging educators. She also served as the founding Executive Director of the Indianapolis Center for Arts Education and Innovation, bringing together schools, artists, nonprofits, and philanthropic partners to strengthen and diversify arts opportunities across Central Indiana.
Through her consulting firm, Beacon Arts Group, Lauren now supports nonprofits, school systems, universities, and cultural organizations in designing programs, facilitating strategic planning, and developing leadership pipelines rooted in equity, creativity, and sustainability. She specializes in teaching artist development, program design, stakeholder alignment, and long-term planning for mission-driven organizations working at the intersection of arts, education, and community well-being.
Lauren currently serves as Board Chair of El Sistema USA, where she helps guide a national network of organizations dedicated to inclusive, high-quality music education for youth. Her leadership—grounded in field experience and informed by a systems-thinking lens—demonstrates the power of the arts to build stronger, more vibrant, and more connected communities.