Lauren Ruffin is an associate professor of worldbuilding and visualizing futures in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society with joint appointments in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering and the Media and Immersive eXperience Center. Her research expertise is race, gender and accessibility ethics as well as economic justice in digital spaces. She is a co-founder of Crux Cooperative, an immersive storytelling cooperative that collaborates with Black artists as they create content in virtual reality and augmented reality. Prior to joining ASU, she led the Office of Movement Building at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and was co-CEO of Fractured Atlas, the largest association of independent artists in the U. S. Ruffin has served on the governing boards of Black Innovation Alliance, Black Girls CODE, and The Main Street Phoenix Project, and on the advisory boards of ArtUp and Black Girl Ventures.
