• Born and Raised: Calgary, Canada

• Languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin loading

• Surprising Fact: I lived in El Elto, Bolivia for 4 months after I graduated high school

• Why HMA?: perfectly aligns with all of my passions, vibes, and background

Rheanna Lauren (aka caedance the Artists) is a multilingual, independent Canadian-American songwriter, recording artist, youth and young adults mentor, and music industry professional based in Los Angeles. She speaks English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and is currently learning Mandarin. She is affiliated with SOCAN, Areia the Agency, Hopeless Records, and SongWriteClub.

As Program Director of Hopeless Music Academy, Rheanna helps bring free music industry education to youth from under-resourced communities in the San Fernando Valley. She designs and implements strategic programming, facilitates music business and music creation classes, recruits educators and guest speakers, and bridges connections between emerging talent and established industry professionals. She also created and oversees an internship program that has provided quantified career experience and personalized mentorship to students from Berklee, UCLA, USC, LACM, NYU, and more.

Rheanna has studied the nature of equitable communities via social, political, and economic change both hands-on and academically through 12-months of Development Studies at the University of Calgary, work with trafficked women and their children with Word Made Flesh in Bolivia & Peru, widowed women and children caught in poverty in Arco-Iris in Mozambique, folks working to exit homelessness at The Mustard Seed in Canada, and families in need of housing at Amor Ministries in Mexico. She’s created and facilitated arts programming for children, youth, and young adults for City of Calgary, Crossings Dance, Creative States, and Sunwest Christian Fellowship. Her youth education and development work expands to Elevo Learning, Camp Chestermere, and private support for individuals with Disabilities. She co-chaired the launch of the West Coast Chapter of RAMPD, is a registered artist with the California Arts and Disability Resource Center.

Her music industry background brings real-world credibility to everything she teaches. With 13+ years of experience and collaborators including Grammy-nominated peers Leon Thomas, Matheus Braz, Saint Paul, and DIMA, she creates with a globalized mindset, from the Canadian Prairies to Brazilian comunidades to the San Fernando Valley. Her work has been featured in BET, CBC, Billboard, Wordplay Magazine, and more. She served as consultant for Athenaeum Camp 2023, featuring TDE's Ray Vaughn and Def Jam's Jai'len Josey, and helped coordinate the first ever Anti Social Producers Camp in NY.

Her work reflects a lifelong commitment to expanding access, representation, and opportunity for all, especially for women, BIPOC individuals, and Disabled creatives such as herself.