Lauren Vanzandt-Escobar

Grant Writer (she/her)

Lauren became involved with FREER Records in the summer of 2020, when she collaborated with a friend to help raise funds for the PPE into Prisons campaign. Shortly thereafter, she joined the team as a grant writer. Having spent almost four years teaching at Rikers Island, work that was upended by the pandemic, she is passionate about strengthening opportunities for people in prisons to develop their creative talents and share their stories with the public. Her work for FR is guided by the conviction that in order to better understand the problems within our prison system, we need to listen to the people who live them.

Lauren is also an artist, primarily working in printmaking and drawing. She received a BA in philosophy from Princeton, and has eight years of experience in the non-profit sector, primarily in teaching and program management roles for educational programs. She has worked at The New York Foundling, El Museo del Barrio, and The New York Public Library. She believes that creativity and storytelling play a vital role in achieving social change and is dedicated to helping FR grow its capacity to empower its talented musicians.

Since 2020, Lauren has grown FR's grant portfolio extensively, writing several funded grant applications and expanding opportunities for our artists in the process. Her sharp skills as a writer bring a clear shape and vision to our project plans and logistics, and push our team to think big yet realistically.