We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lauren Gamelin Vankeulen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lauren below.
Lauren, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.
Thirteen years. Thirteen years ago, I was sitting in my small two-bedroom apartment, writing names on purple file folders. 4 names. 4 folders. 1 folder per youth. I chose purple because I knew it would stand out to me in the future. I remember thinking, “one day, we’ll have an entire filing cabinet full of purple folders.” This summer, I came across the purple folders. Sure enough, we had an entire filing cabinet full of them. I was immediately transported back to that living room, back to that memory, and was overwhelmed with gratitude.
As CEO and Co-Founder of AYA Youth Collective, I have led the organization’s transformation from a modest startup with a budget of $11,000 to a $5 million operation, directly impacting the lives of over 2,500 young people. My leadership style prioritizes inclusivity, collaboration, and innovation, fostering an environment where 96% of youth served report feeling respected and supported.
It’s easy to look at this journey from the outside and be amazed, but the truth is, it’s been gritty and hard and full of challenges.
I keep the book, “It’s Normal to Shake as You Soar” by Shannon Cohen, on my desk. And it’s clearly well-loved. Shannon writes: “Rejection, being overlooked, underestimated, laughed at, even studied and copied are all part of the process of dreaming big!” I have been rejected, overlooked, underestimated and laughed at. I lost count of the number of people who told me we couldn’t do it and who told me that it’s been tried, and good luck because no one has succeeded. I remember emailing people at other organizations, just to see if they’d talk to me, and wouldn’t get replies. One day, I was going to a big meeting and had this innovative youth service model to share and I didn’t have paper to print on. So I grabbed scrap paper and printed on the other side. When I got to the meeting to hand it out, I realized it had our personal tax returns on the other side.
I sat in a meeting in 2016 and asked questions about a funding application. After the meeting, I was yelled at and called a “young girl who doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” We’ve had years with no money, years without a paycheck, years when I wasn’t sure if we’d have enough money to finish building a house for youth. I tried and failed and tried and failed. I’ve messed up as a leader, I’ve made wrong decisions. Sometimes I’ve been too loud and sometimes I’ve been too quiet. The rejection and the shaking keeps me humble and open today. Ultimately, I’m grateful for those experiences and I remind myself that it’s still normal to shake.
A mentor of mine, when we first were starting the organization, said, just go one step at a time. Have a vision, but crawl before you walk and walk before you run. When we had one house and were serving 4 youth, so many people told us we weren’t doing enough. Grantors said they wouldn’t fund us because we weren’t helping “enough” people at once. I continued to remind myself, and others, that the 4 young people in front of us deserved every bit of care and goodness and opportunity presented to them. Starting small allowed us to learn and change and grow. We served 4 youth a year for the first 5 years! This year we served 792 youth. We wouldn’t be as good at serving each and every youth that comes through our doors, with intentionality and truth, if we hadn’t gone slow first.
Lauren, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Lauren Gamelin VanKeulen is a visionary leader with over 15 years of experience leading organizations, managing teams, and driving strategic growth. As CEO and Co-Founder of AYA Youth Collective, she has led the organization’s transformation from a modest startup to a $5 million operation, directly impacting the lives of over 2,500 young people. Her leadership style prioritizes inclusivity, collaboration, and innovation, fostering an environment where 96% of youth served report feeling respected and supported.
A visionary leader, Lauren has successfully managed mergers, cultivated partnerships with foundations and common-cause organizations, and guided strategic planning processes to ensure long-term sustainability. Her expertise spans fund development, program innovation, and fostering a culture of belonging. She has received numerous accolades, including being named one of the 50 Most Influential Women in West Michigan (2022) and a Crain’s Grand Rapids 40 Under 40 honoree (2021).
Lauren holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from Calvin University. She is a respected public speaker, affiliated clinical faculty member at Grand Valley State University, and active in coalitions addressing housing stability and youth empowerment. Personally, Lauren has adopted through foster care and is a mom to a child with special needs, the light of her life.
Her dedication to empowering youth and advancing community well-being makes her a driving force in the nonprofit sector.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
The Entrepreneurial Operating System has changed the way I lead. This tool has created clarity and vision our team needed to take us to the next level. I credit a lot of our ability to grow, while maintaining a strong team, to EOS, especially in the last year. Clarity breaks are an EOS tool that have forced/allowed me to look outside the chaos of the day to day and work “on” the business instead of “in” the business. I used to take quarterly clarity breaks but have now moved to monthly. I ask and answer questions like: what went well last month? What didn’t go well? What seems overly complicated right now that could be simplified? What needs to be solved for the organization to achieve its vision? What priorities do I need to tackle to be on track for achieving our 1-Year Plan? What can we do to be more proactive? What are the current trends and how could we leverage them? What can I do to work just a little more in my Unique Ability next month?
These questions allow me to level up my leadership and keep my head clear, because it’s easy to get caught up in the day to day and lose focus.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I’m not a “cool” person. I don’t have the gift of “Woo.” I’m not the most charismatic person in the room, and I don’t rely on charm to win people over. Instead, I build relationships and credibility through authenticity—by showing up as my full, imperfect self wherever I go, especially in my leadership.
In a world that often rewards performative leadership, where image can take precedence over substance, I’ve chosen to root myself in honesty and transparency. Sometimes, and especially in this political climate, authenticity feels impossible—too risky, too exposed. But I believe authenticity has the power to transform. It shifts how we engage with one another, how we succeed, and how we create lasting change.
By staying true to who I am and what I believe, I create space for others to do the same. When people see that I mean what I say and say what I mean, they know they can trust me. They know that whether it’s a hard conversation, a difficult decision, or an exciting new venture, I am bringing my whole self to the table—not just what’s convenient or palatable.
This kind of leadership may not always be flashy, but it is steady. It builds a foundation of trust, one that lasts beyond trends and personalities. And ultimately, I believe that’s what shapes reputation—not just what we do, but how consistently and honestly we do it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ayayouth.org
- Instagram: @ayayouthcollective
- Facebook: @ayayouthcollective
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-gamelin-vankeulen-84312110/
