Bio

Shawn Renee Lent moves this world as a social practice dance artist, program manager, writer, non-profit 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, a U.S. Fulbright Scholar, and a nominee for a 2019 3Arts Award in teaching artistry and 2018 Paul Robeson Award from Actors’ Equity Foundation, Shawn currently serves as Programs and Communications Director for Chicago Dancemakers Forum and Lead of Dance Peace. Shawn is a dance educator with 31 years experience. Shawn is currently a dance educator at Music House, LPB School of Dance, and Ralla Klepak Performing Arts Program, as well as a guest choreographer and teacher for Bohaty School of Dance. 

Shawn served as the EducationUSA Egypt Advising Coordinator at AMIDEAST Cairo (through the U.S. Department of State) 2013-2015, receiving an award from the ambassador which is a rare honor for a non-embassy employee. She is honored to have been a U.S. Fulbright Scholar to Egypt 2012-2013, a United Nations Alliance of Civilizations International Fellow, and the 2014 Commencement Speaker for Millikin University. From 2006-2012, she served as Arts Integration Program Specialist for Columbia College Chicago’s Center for Community Arts Partnerships, and from 2015-2017 she was a writer and Alliance Building Lead for the think tank and online publication Createquity and, from 2017-2019, an editing contributor for the Clyde Fitch Report.