Shelley Lauten is the Lead Consultant/Project Director for myregion.org, a seven county initiative bringing business, institutional and government leaders together to build a regional agenda for Central Florida.  This initiative, now in its fifth year, has involved over 3000 citizens and 300 leaders in identifying and implementing ways that Central Florida can enhance its global competitiveness, while maintaining a high standard quality of life.

Also, she serves as the Florida Director for the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Florida Initiative on Regional Collaboration, established to identify new opportunities for the State of Florida to support and encourage communities around the state to collaborate regionally. Led by a statewide committee composed of top leaders from the development community, civic and environmental groups, community-based organizations, and the public sector, the goals of the project are to:

• Identify state barriers to regional cooperation
• Forge a consensus around effective state actions and reforms that can help facilitate regional solutions.
• Work to move these recommendations into reality.

In addition to these two projects, she facilitates Leadership Orlando; a program of the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce.  This community leadership program is the largest in the nation--graduating over 250 leaders a year. Shelley uses the regional agenda and regional indicators to demonstrate to and discuss with community leaders the importance of regional collaboration and partnerships in the new global economy.

As the owner of Lauten Consulting, Shelley specializes in project development, with an emphasis on issues critical to businesses in today’s competitive market.  Prior to her current project, she served as the Project Director for WorkForce 2020, another innovative program of the Orlando Regional Chamber.  This national model commissioned by the Workforce, Florida Board of Directors, has demonstrated a way to connect the business community to innovative hiring, training and retention strategies. Begun in Central Florida, this project has been replicated in 6 Florida communities and 10 regions across the United States.

Prior to her work as a consultant, Shelley held key executive positions at Walt Disney World and the Arnold Palmer Golf Management Company.  She is married to Fred and has two children, Christopher (21) and Victoria (17).