Lauren Young Casteel (born 1953) is an African-American activist who advocates for social justice. She was inducted into theColorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2014.
The daughter ofMargaret Buckner andWhitney M. Young, Jr.,[1] she was bornLauren Young inNebraska and moved to Colorado when she was twenty.
She has led theDenver Foundation, the Hunt Alternatives Fund and theTemple Hoyne Buell Foundation. At the Denver Foundation, she instituted the Nonprofit Internship Program and the Nonprofit Inclusiveness Project; the second project received theCouncil on Foundations’ Critical Impact Award.[2]
She was the first black woman to head a foundation in Colorado, the first female black TV personality in Colorado and the first female senior communications advisor to a Denver mayor.[3]
She was married to Charles Casteel, an attorney.[4] She is the mother of painterJordan Casteel.[5]