Our Team
Lauren Tonokawa
Managing Director, Brand and Creative
Lauren leads the creative vision at Elemental, shaping storytelling, design, and brand experiences that brings the mission and work to life.
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As Managing Director of Creative, Lauren oversees all facets of Elemental’s creative output, including design, events, and brand. She translates complex technologies, investing insight, and climate impact into compelling, accessible narratives that engage our community of entrepreneurs, investors, partners, and funders.
Lauren leads the stewardship of Elemental’s brand, ensuring it evolves in lockstep with our mission and impact. She shapes how the world experiences Elemental—from building creative campaigns and website strategies to immersive brand experiences and community building through events. This includes Elemental’s First of a Kind, Next to Scale series that elevated the stories of entrepreneurs overcoming barriers to deployment and Elemental Interactive, an annual convening of the most active funders of climate innovation.
Prior to Elemental
Lauren has spent her entire career at the nexus of impact, startups, and storytelling. She joined Elemental in 2012 and has been a part of the organization’s growth and evolution into a leading nonprofit investor. Before joining Elemental, she supported the marketing team at a solar startup, focusing on fundraising and business development.
She launched a limited-series column in her local newspaper featuring changemakers across Hawaii making an impact through entrepreneurship, impact investing, and corporate innovation.
Outside of the office
When she’s not designing decks or thinking about branding, Lauren loves nurturing the stream running through her backyard, planting and harvesting produce, and playing volleyball reminiscing of her college days.