SERVICES
Public Speaking
Lauren Hood has over a decade of experience as a public speaker, delivering keynotes on liberation, multidisciplinary practice, reparations, and alternative approaches to community development. Her work as a creative visionary emphasizes the radical potentials of Afrofuturism, self determination, and Black global exchanges. In 2021, Hood founded the Institute of AfroUrbanism, a Detroit-based think-tank that develops and delivers research and instructional programming focused on policy structured around the Black Thriving framework: Agency, Abundance, Audacity.
Interviews & Writing
Since 2014, Hood has been a contributor to local and international media outlets as an expert on gentrification, reparations, racism and unconscious bias, and the cultural history of Detroit as a lesson for race relations everywhere. Previously featured in The Huffington Post, Detroit Free Press, Crain’s Detroit Business, Model D, Michigan Now, and NPR’s Michigan Radio, Hood is available for interviews and op-eds on the subjects of urban planning & development, Black wellbeing, Black culture, sociology and cultural anthropology, with an emphasis on the aspirational agenda of IAU.
Host & Moderator
Hood has extensive experience leading workshops and moderating panel discussions—from intimate parlor talks at Urban Consulate Detroit to formal policy debates at the Detroit Regional Chamber and the Aspen Institute. One of the key qualities of her work as a host is investment into the local environment as a site of open discourse, creating safe spaces for uncomfortable conversations between disparate groups. Previous topics include urban exchange, preservation and investment of Black localities, incorporating equity into policy agendas, and understanding the urban environment’s future through a focus on its ancestry and history.
Facilitator
In her experience as the director of Deep Dive Detroit and the Institute for AfroUrbanism, Hood has designed curriculum and moderated group dialogues on racial equity, privilege, equitable development, and community engagement. Having successfully engaged over 1500 participants at more than a dozen organizations, Hood’s invitation to engage is noteworthy for its focus on spiritual healing and imaginative visioning.