Biography
Lauren ‘LJ’ Jones (Austin) NCC, LPCc, CSCDA, MCC*, is a past expeditionary learning instructor, teen adventure guide and Adjunct Lecturer for School Counseling Graduate Programs. She is in her 15th year as the Career & Technical Education (CTE) Program Director for Special Populations, Counseling and Career Development (sometimes Middle School & Equity too) serving statewide school districts and postsecondary institutions by providing trainings & resources that help support the programming for implementation and collaborative efforts that parallel Colorado’s education initiatives that support all things PWR, Meaningful Career Conversations and other important acronyms such as: ICAP, CTE ACE, GG,WBL and more. Lauren is a connector, an activator and a forever practitioner of belonging and well-being. Her passion for students and their authentic, meaningful learning can sometimes be contagious. Her advocacy for School Counselors within the CTE family is prominent in the work she does. Lauren serves and wears many other hats including: Board member for BIONIC: Believe It Or Not I Care, Advisory Member for the Coalition for Career Development, co-supervisor of Colorado’s statewide PWR/ICAP Facilitators, CTE Champion Trainer with Advance CTE, constant advocate for Special Populations and everything CTE in Colorado! She’s a mama to three chickens, a sweet pup named Journey and oodles of garden vegetation. When not working, you can find her on the river, on a cruiser bike, hiking the Colorado Trail, camping in her 1959 camper named Xanadu, doing horticultural therapy in her backyard and living it up in Alaska or the Jersey Shore.
