• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Star Insights

  • About
  • Services
  • Crew
    • Robin
    • Alex
    • Lauren
    • Minoli
    • Niles
  • Clients
    • LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes
    • Committee For Greater LA
    • LA Civil Rights
    • Heart of Los Angeles
    • Tournament of Roses
    • Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • About
  • Services
  • Crew
    • Robin
    • Alex
    • Lauren
    • Minoli
    • Niles
  • Clients
    • LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes
    • Committee For Greater LA
    • LA Civil Rights
    • Heart of Los Angeles
    • Tournament of Roses
    • Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
  • Blog
  • Contact

Lauren Welsch

Executive Advisor

Specialties: Brand and Marketing Strategy, Strategic Planning

  • LinkedIn

Lauren Welsch

Executive Advisor

Specialties: Brand and Marketing Strategy, Strategic Planning

  • LinkedIn

Lauren Welsch is a dynamic global brand strategist with a passion for crafting innovative, breakthrough campaigns. She works with senior leaders in organizations to develop compelling narratives and positioning that strengthen their brands’ unique DNA. Lauren excels at cross-cultural management and navigating a landscape of constant change.

Lauren’s natural curiosity and spirit of exploration drew her early on to international business. She spent her formative years learning about as many aspects of the field as possible, from tracking foreign currency markets for clients, to overseeing both local and global brands for consumer product companies. This multidisciplinary background shaped her perspective and gave her a unique insight into the importance of a holistic, interconnected approach to strategic planning.

After graduate school, Lauren charted a new course in the Media and Entertainment Industry. During her tenure at some of Hollywood’s biggest studios, she was fortunate enough to learn firsthand the power of good storytelling from visionary leaders. Lauren is thrilled to transfer the discipline, creativity, and focused intensity required to launch new shows to the social impact sphere by supporting clients on their paths to mission advancement.

Lauren is also the Lead Designer and Project Manager for a real estate development team focused on high-end, eco-luxe real estate projects throughout the western United States.  She has consulted with global leaders in the Home Design Industry and served on several high-profile Design Panels.

Navy circular compass logo icon.

Lauren loves collaborating with her husband, learning from her daughter, and being inspired by nature.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

  • Held senior-level global and domestic marketing roles for Colgate-Palmolive, Viacom/MTV Networks, Disney-ABC Television Group, and Sony Pictures Studios, during assignments in the United States and Latin America
  • Organized and hosted annual global marketing summits and global offsite meetings for hundreds of senior executives from around the world, including working with one of the world’s foremost authorities on disruptive innovation
  • Started two businesses simultaneously: a boutique Marketing Consultancy and a Real Estate Investing & Design business

Credentials

  • Master of International Business, with a Marketing Concentration, from the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina
  • Master’s level coursework from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estúdios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) in Guadalajara, México
  • Bachelor of Arts in International Studies, with a minor in French, from Virginia Tech University

Footer

527 W 7th Street
Ste 800
Los Angeles, CA 90014

[email protected]
(213) 433-0200

  • linkedin

Site Footer

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Star Insights
All Rights Reserved

Technology Agency Strategic PlanWA Technology Solutions (WaTech)
Olympia, WA

Star Insights partnered with WaTech, the State of Washington’s lead IT agency, to create a three-year strategic plan (2024-2026).

Star Insights and WaTech senior leadership developed and approved an iterative planning process rooted in co-creation. We crafted an inclusive framework to engage critical interested parties through highly interactive workshops and an agency-wide survey. This plan created a future vision for the agency around three goals:

  • Enable Customer Success Through Service Delivery.
  • Learn Together. Build Together. Serve Together.
  • Statewide Technology Leadership.

Through our approach, WaTech refined a commitment to serve through a new mission, vision, and set of values that emphasized their role to provide strategic technology leadership and influence how government services are delivered.

Strategic FrameworkPort of Los Angeles
Stakeholder Engagement Bureau
Los Angeles, CA

The Port of Los Angeles aspires to be the nation’s #1 container port and the global model for security, sustainability, and social responsibility.

Star Insights partnered with the Stakeholder Engagement Bureau at the Port of Los Angeles to develop a Strategic Framework that guides the Bureau’s priorities and aligns its work with the overall vision and mission.

This collaborative process engaged executives and staff in a series of facilitated discussions and data-gathering activities, synthesizing key learnings from internal stakeholders.

Executive Team Leadership and Strategy SessionsLos Angeles County
Los Angeles, CA

In Los Angeles County, the largest in the United States, government executives have engaged Star Insights on many occasions to facilitate high-value leadership and strategy sessions.

Executives benefit from participating in strategy or leadership discussions with their colleagues without also having to lead and facilitate the meetings. The Star Insights team excels in these situations and has facilitated meaningful, constructive discussions on leadership and strategy with representatives from more than a dozen LA County government agencies.

Strategic FrameworkThe Ralph M. Parsons Foundation
Los Angeles, CA

The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation (Parsons) engaged Star Insights to support their Board and staff in developing a Strategic Framework for the Foundation.

Strategic frameworks highlight the vision, purpose, and priorities of an organization, serving as a guide for board members, executives, and staff when making decisions. This primary strategy document also serves as the foundation for building annual implementation plans and determining resource allocation decisions. Done well, Strategic Frameworks are co-created through an inclusive planning process that fosters alignment and reflects the collective wisdom of the organization and its key stakeholders.

Strategic PlanningTournament of Roses
Pasadena, CA

Star Insights partnered with the Tournament of Roses (TOR) to craft a forward-looking strategic plan that would bring them into the future, while simultaneously ensuring that traditions beloved by the community would continue on.

This inclusive collaboration involved a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders, comprising current and past sponsors, broadcast partners, float participants and builders, city and state officials, community leaders, TOR staff, and association members at all levels.

With input from hundreds of highly engaged internal and external stakeholders, TOR was able to develop a robust strategic plan and framework, whose priorities included:

  • Ensuring the future success of the parade and game
  • Reimagining and reinforcing their membership model
  • Elevating their brands
  • Aligning association resources to optimize impact
  • Enhancing relationships and community collaboration

Having established who they want to be moving forward, TOR now has a robust strategic plan to achieve the shared vision of all stakeholders for its future success.

Strategic PlanningHeart of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

Having just opened a brand-new building, Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA) engaged Star Insights to help determine their next steps as an organization to expand their impact.

With high demand for their services, HOLA was wrestling with how best to support their community, impact state and local policies, and expand their reach. However, they lacked established evaluation criteria to make decisions around new opportunities, resulting in a significant amount of time being spent on deliberation rather than action.

With input from key internal and external stakeholders, HOLA developed a new strategic plan with:

  • 3 clear strategic priorities
  • 7 operating principles
  • 10 expansion principles

With these principles to guide both everyday operations and expansion efforts, HOLA can continue to offer high-quality programs and help young people across Los Angeles reach their full potential.

Strategic Framework and Executive AdvisingLA Plaza de Cultura y Artes
Los Angeles, CA

On the cusp of their 10th anniversary, LA Plaza faced existential questions about their mission, vision, purpose, and identity. This lack of clarity on their direction was impacting key activities like fundraising, partnerships, stakeholder engagement, and more.

To help LA Plaza clarify their vision and articulate their North Star, Star Insights collaborated with stakeholders representing diverse perspectives and facilitated conversations around mission, vision, cultural identity, and priorities for LA and LA Plaza.

The resulting Strategic Framework was flexible enough to respond to changing circumstances and provides guidance to staff when:

  • Making internal decisions regarding programming
  • Engaging with community stakeholders
  • Speaking with external parties, such as fundraisers
  • Cultivating partnerships and more
Mission and Vision FacilitationSpecialty Family Foundation
Los Angeles, CA

Star Insights partnered with the Specialty Family Foundation (SFF) to facilitate a process aimed at shaping the Foundation's future identity, mission, and vision.

With a focus on action, the findings from this engagement will inform board discussions and strategic planning sessions, guiding SFF toward a future of continued impact and relevance in the Los Angeles community.

Board Governance ReformsCalifornia Community Foundation
Los Angeles, CA

The recent chief executive officer transition at the California Community Foundation (CCF) provided a natural inflection point for the organization to refine policies and practices for the CCF Board. CCF engaged Star Insights to support a Board-led process to develop reform recommendations.

The process included individual interviews with Directors, Governance Committee deliberations, and a special session of the full Board so that the Committee recommendations benefitted from the perspectives and experiences of the Directors.

Technology Agency Strategic PlanWA Technology Solutions (WaTech)
Olympia, WA

Star Insights partnered with WaTech, the State of Washington’s lead IT agency, to create a three-year strategic plan (2024-2026).

Star Insights and WaTech senior leadership developed and approved an iterative planning process rooted in co-creation. We crafted an inclusive framework to engage critical interested parties through highly interactive workshops and an agency-wide survey. This plan created a future vision for the agency around three goals:

  • Enable Customer Success Through Service Delivery.
  • Learn Together. Build Together. Server Together.
  • Statewide Technology Leadership.

Through our approach, WaTech refined a commitment to serve through a new mission, vision, and set of values that emphasized their role to provide strategic technology leadership and influence how government services are delivered.

Enterprise IT Strategic PlanLos Angeles County
Los Angeles, CA

Our Division Lead was the Strategic Advisor in creating Los Angeles County’s first Enterprise IT Strategic Plan (2018-2023).

This pioneering strategic plan was created in collaboration with and departments and 200+ business and technology leaders and included five strategic goals:

  1. Digital Civic Engagement
  2. Mobility
  3. Data as a Utility
  4. Workforce Empowerment
  5. Transform Procurement

In addition to co-creating the plan, goal teams were launched to support moving from a plan to action, where these department driven teams created objectives, measures, and initiatives that were the foundation for work across a five-year period.

Enterprise IT Strategic PlanState of Washington
Olympia, WA

Star Insights partnered with the State of Washington’s lead technology agency, Washington Technology Solutions (WaTech), to create an Enterprise IT Strategic Plan (2023-2025) for over 100+ state agencies.

This inclusive and collaborative approach involved business leaders, and IT representatives from state agencies, ensuring that all voices were heard. Together, we designed an inclusive framework to engage essential interested parties through existing governance and interactive workshops to generate ideas and recommendations for the plan. Representing agency priorities, the plan emphasizes residents and their experience with government services:

  • Create a government experience that leaves no community behind.
  • Better data, better decisions, better government, better Washington.
  • Innovative technology solutions create a better Washington.
  • Transform how we work. Best workforce ever.

With a focus on action, leading up to the approval of this plan, we established "Goal Teams" consisting of the agency business and IT leaders to deliver on priorities and initiatives connected to the plan.

Planning For Meaningful Change

Are you ready to start paving the way for meaningful change, maximum impact? Download our 5 Keys To An Effective Strategic Plan That You'll Actually Use and create a strategic plan that everyone in your organization will commit to executing.

John
Smith
[email protected]
cover for 5 Keys To A Strategic Plan That You'll Actually Use eBook