Lauren Whitehead, a native of Chicago, Illinois is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan and is known as an emerging national star on the performance poetry scene. A three-time member of the University of Michigan Poetry Slam Team and a charter member of the performance poetry troupe, Ann Arbor Wordworks, Lauren is an electric writer and performer who recently teamed up with Wordworks partner Mariama Lockington to win the Sonnet Slam as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company's residency in Ann Arbor with the University Musical Society. Lauren co-directed The Vagina Monologues: A Colorful Production in 2006 at U-M and has played the lead role of Abby Jones in the poetic drama Lay Your Comfort Down. Lauren has just moved to the Bay Area is currently working on the production of her one woman show and is Associate Program Director at Youth Speaks in San Francisco.