enjoy this inspiring conversation with lauren holaly-zembo, who is helping to bring mindfulness into the culture of the crim organization and partnering with siyli to share mindfulness and siy with the greater flint community through the “healthy, mindful flint” initiative. the goal of “healthy, mindful flint” is to support a more inclusive, compassionate and thriving greater flint community. rich and lauren had an engaging conversation about the success of the crim’s community-wide effort engaging the civic, business, health, education and community sectors and how this work might serve as a model for future city-wide mindfulness initiatives.
lauren holaly-zembo has been with the crim since 2008 and as of september 1, 2020 was appointed to serve as the ceo. in the last 5 years, lauren has relaunched the historic community education model that was originally created in 1935, a community-wide system of support for students and families in all 11 flint community school buildings, international academy of flint, and the flint cultural center academy. she has coordinated leading efforts to create healthy communities through policy, systems, and environmental changes. she has experience in non-motorized transportation, parks and recreation, safe routes to school, health, community engagement and planning initiatives. lauren is a flint service champion, who works to support a culture of service through an increase in national service and volunteerism. she is also a mindfulness ambassador, working to bring mindfulness into the culture of the crim organization and the greater flint community. she has completed the mindfulness-based stress reduction program and the search inside yourself leadership program. she holds a master of social work from the university of michigan focused on community organizing. in her spare time she enjoys running, snowmobiling, traveling, and spending time with her family, which includes her husband cody, and daughters quinn (5) and rozlyn (3).