LAUREN GOLDBERG, CHIEF STRATEGIST

Growing up in Washington, DC, Lauren eagerly pursued artistic endeavors and was often found on her sewing machine. After pursuing an MBA in 2001, Lauren took her creative passions combined with her business acumen and launched Lauren Merkin, an independent handbag brand based in and produced in NYC. As founder and CEO for 14 years, Lauren grew this business from its infancy into an international brand with distribution to top department stores and retailers throughout the US and globally. By working with a local NYC factory Lauren was able to stay close to the creative process, selecting all materials and working directly with the artisans that crafted her final products. While the brand received broad editorial coverage from Vogue to InStyle, Lauren was personally featured in publications such as the Wall Street Journal and Women’s Wear Daily and was a keynote speaker for the 2010 Harvard Women in Business Conference.

Lauren currently serves on the board of Cobble Hill Playschool, a non-profit pre-school in Brooklyn, as the Director of Fundraising, a position she has held since 2017. In this role Lauren has expanded partnerships and programs to increase fundraising revenue by 20%. Previously she spent 10 years on the Fundraising Committee for Sanctuary for Families annual benefit.

Lauren currently finds most of her creative exploration through projects with her two daughters, aged 4 and 6. She joins the Thread board passionate about its’ mission and the extraordinary healing capacity of the arts.

Lauren has an MBA from Columbia University and a BA in Education from Brown University.