Lauren Bruce-Stets (she/her) has dedicated her career to advancing the accessibility and affordability of education. As a senior associate in WittKieffer’s Education Practice, Lauren strives to understand each client’s unique leadership needs by engendering trust and maintaining clear, open communications throughout each search assignment. Leveraging her professional experience in advancement and alumni affairs, Lauren establishes strong relationships with clients and candidates to ensure a transparent and equitable search process for all involved. She brings passion and energy to her work, with particular expertise in searching for deans, chief academic officers, and advancement and student affairs leaders. The excellence she shows in her work was recognized when Lauren was presented with a 2021 WittKieffer Values Award, given annually to team members who exemplify the firm’s core beliefs.

Prior to joining WittKieffer, Lauren served The Ohio State University’s Office of Advancement in various roles, supporting senior leadership on key events and initiatives that had a broad strategic impact across the division and institution. Lauren provided guidance on a variety of special projects for alumni engagement, developed and executed career development and training activities and coordinated efforts with other university offices and departments. She also spent time in advancement at a non-profit preschool in Columbus supporting children with special needs, as well as at a local healthcare system. Lauren recently completed the eCornell certificate program in Diversity and Inclusion, which focuses on improving employee engagement, counteracting unconscious bias and fostering an inclusive work climate.