Lauren Akin (She/Her)
Staff Mentor
BS Ecosocial Design (Gaia University '13), MS Education for Sustainability (UVM '19)
Wilderness First Aid, Lifeguard
Lauren began her work with Crow’s Path in the Spring of 2012, and has been growing and learning within the Crow’s Path community ever since. As an educator and musician, she is committed to building and nurturing community that’s rooted in connection to each other and to the land. She has been sharing her passion and love for the natural world with children for over 7 years. She weaves song, story, games, crafts, and mindfulness to create an educational container that helps students connect to their authenticity, cultivate compassion, and feel at home in the natural world.
She began her journey with nature-based education when she completed a year-long internship at the Earthwalk Village School in Plainfield, Vermont. She went on to work as a Lead Mentor for the Crow’s Path Field School in Burlington, Vermont, and then served as Crow’s Path’s Creative Director of Youth Programs from 2014-2016. In the Fall of 2016, Crow’s Path gave her the opportunity to go on Sabbatical. During this time she dove into exploring group song facilitation and racial justice, honing in on where these two areas intersect with the contemporary Nature Connection educational movement.
She looks forward to returning this Fall, 2018, as a Lead Mentor for the Vespertine Program, a new Crow’s Path offering for high school young women. She is currently completing her Masters of Education for Sustainability at the University of Vermont. Her graduate work will focus on understanding how Crow’s Path, and other programs like it, can become active participants in dismantling systems of oppression within their communities.
Lauren loves to, among other things, sing, collaboratively create vivid imaginary worlds, swim in rivers with goggles, and dream about building amazing rafts.