Shawn Lent

Programs and Communications Director, Chicago Dancemakers Forum

Chicago, IL, USA
Cohort: Center for Creative Leadership, New York, 2009

Shawn Lent moves this world as a social practice dance artist, program manager, writer, nonprofit arts consultant, dance educator, and facilitator, with experience from a field in Bosnia to a children’s cancer hospital in revolutionary Egypt. Her work is investigating embodied peace, diplomatic innovation, and the arts as a conduit for critical social intervention. The first ever person featured on Seriously Badass Women, Shawn currently serves as Programs and Communications Director for Chicago Dancemakers Forum; Lead of Dance Peace, an initiative creating dance and music education opportunities for refugee children and teens alongside their diverse neighbors in Chicago; contributor for the Clyde Fitch Report; and a dance educator with 28 years of experience and certification from Youth Protection Advocates in Dance. Shawn served as the EducationUSA Egypt Advising Coordinator at AMIDEAST Cairo 2013-2015, receiving an award from the ambassador which is a rare honor for a non-embassy employee. She is honored to have been an U.S. Fulbright Scholar 2012-2013, nominee for a 2019 3Arts Award in teaching artistry, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations International Fellow, and the 2014 Commencement Speaker for Millikin University.