Lawrence Thompson-Drake

Lawrence Thompson is a multidisciplinary leader with deep experience in creative arts, youth development, education, nonprofit leadership, and operations. His career spans performance, program design, staff leadership, business development, and community-based impact.

He has held senior leadership roles including Area Coordinator for large-scale afterschool networks, overseeing multiple sites, managing teams of 40+ staff, ensuring compliance, building curriculum systems, and developing standardized operating procedures used as national models. He has also served as Site Director, Creative Arts Manager, and HR/Business Office Manager, blending people management with operations and program excellence.

Lawrence is the Founder & Executive Director of House of Dreams Creative Arts and the Dream of Dreamers Foundation, where he designs and leads arts-based youth programming, mentorship initiatives, entrepreneurship education, and community engagement models across Chicago’s South and West Sides. His work focuses on access, identity development, leadership, and creative confidence.

He has professional performance and production experience, including working with Disney, appearing in an Emmy-winning TV show, and being Emmy-nominated himself. This background informs his approach to public speaking, youth engagement, storytelling, and large-scale productions.

Across his career, Lawrence has consistently worked at the intersection of creativity, systems, and people, building programs from scratch, repairing broken operations, scaling teams, and creating environments where both staff and students thrive.

B.A Creative Arts minor Arts Education from UCF in Orlando