Luke Hogan Laurenson

Luke Hogan Laurenson was born with quadriplegia cerebral palsy and the speech disability dysarthria. Told from birth that he would likely never walk, talk, or achieve much of anything, Luke has spent the past 19 years busting through such assumptions. 
Upon getting his first communication device (his "talk buddy" as it became known), Luke shared that he dreamed of writing books and speaking to people someday. Little did anyone know, he was just getting started!   
His next dream was to dance to Taylor Swift’s song "Shake It Off" all by himself.  This song became his anthem at a very young age. Whenever he was having a hard time,  he would dance on his knees to "Shake It Off."  After countless hours of neuromotor therapy and the SPML surgery, Luke began walking independently at age 12. A month later, he danced to "Shake It Off" for the first time in his life.  
He continued Shaking it Off with the help of The Ashland Firefighters, The Oregon Shakespeare Festival and eventually Ashland High School.  These music videos have garnered over 100K views on social media.  
But instead of just dancing to her music, Luke now wanted to meet Taylor Swift herself. Thanks to the Dream Factory of Oregon, a few miracles, and some stealth maneuvers by his sister Julia, Luke, Jane, and Julia met Taylor Swift on Mother's Day when Luke was 13 years old.  Fellow Swifties will understand the significance of the number 13! 
In addition to his love of Taylor Swift, Luke began attending shows at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival at a young age. When Luke was in eighth grade, his dream of being on stage himself came true when he was cast in the 2019 production of "Hairspray! The Broadway Musical" at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. While attending school full time, Luke spent 10 months in rehearsals and then performances for shows, becoming the youngest paid actor with a disability in the state of Oregon. 
Around this time, Luke also saw his sister Julia graduate as one of the valedictorians of her high school class. Luke came down to breakfast the next day and shared with his mom that he too wanted to be a valedictorian and receive a general education diploma. Even though his mom tried to talk him out of it, Luke was not to be deterred. In June of 2023, Luke achieved this goal. His graduation speech went viral on TikTok, with over 1.5 million views.  
In April 2023 Luke began fulfilling his dream of public speaking with his first speech given to the Ashland Rotary Club.  A month later he continued with his second speaking engagement. Since graduation Luke has been traveling around the country, speaking at schools and organizations. A highlight of his first year was meeting one of his favorite actors Josh Gad, at a speaking engagement in LA.  
In October 2024 Luke and his fellow actors with disabilities will be featured in "Including Us: Exceptional Teens in Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Hairspray! The Broadway Musical," a documentary being released on PBS stations around the country. The documentary will also stream on WNET’s  All Arts platform.  
Luke's latest dream is to someday work for Taylor Swift.  In the meantime, he continues to travel around the country, speaking about resiliency and overcoming challenges, and the importance of having dreams. 

Jane Marie Hogan

Listening to the song "Anticipation" at age 11, Jane decided it was her dream to work for Carly Simon. And seven years later she went to the island where Simon lived, found her house, knocked on her door and asked for a job. As fortune would have it, Simon remembered Jane from the letters she had sent! Jane was offered a job the next day and ultimately worked closely with Simon and James Taylor, her husband at the time, for several years to come. Starting as a live-in nanny, Jane's work grew to include road managing an album recording in the Bahamas and executing numerous merchandise projects for both artists.   
During college, Jane began working at the Hard Rock Café in New York City. Stepping into the role of Merchandise Manager, Jane transformed a three item inventory, which was sold out of the coat check closet, into a full merchandise line of over 50 products with sales of over $20 million a year in the New York City location alone. Eventually, Jane was appointed the US Director of Merchandise Operations for Hard Rock Cafe International. During this time, she opened four new locations in the US and simultaneously oversaw the European merchandise locations. 
Utilizing her merchandising experience, Jane then Co-Founded EMEA, a music merchandising company creating high end products for the top musicians and bands of the day. Her first client was an unknown band at the time, New Kids on the Block. In its first year, EMEA did over $10 million in sales by selling tour jackets through teen magazines by direct mail. EMEA's client list expanded later to include The Rolling Stones, Madonna, The Who, Sting, Billy Joel, and James Taylor. 
In 1992, Jane moved to the West Coast and Co-Founded Nataraj Publishing with bestselling author, Shakti Gawain.  
She eventually left Nataraj to open a business management and development consulting business.  Among her clients was bestselling author, Gabrielle Roth.  Jane managed Roth's The Moving Center, overseeing her workshop events and her TMC staff events around the world. Jane further consulted on her own record label Raven Recordings. 
When Jane's daughter Julia was born in 1999, Jane decided to become a stay at home mom for what she assumed would be a few years.  Then, in 2004, Luke was born.  Since then, Jane has dedicated her working life to advocacy and care for Luke (and Julia, but she rarely needed much help!).
Jane began public speaking for schools and organizations in 2023 with Luke.  
Jane is the Producer of the soon to be released documentary Including Us: Exceptional Teens at The Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Hairspray! the Broadway Musical.