Lauren is a native of Atlanta, GA. She joined the Sierra Leone trip as founder of the College Council for CARE -- the first formal partnership between college students and one of the world's leading private international charities. Lauren became involved in issues of poverty and development during high school when she had a unique opportunity to journey with CARE staff to volunteer with girls' education programs in Guatemala. She returned not only with a sense of responsibility, but also with the belief that students could engage with the work of humanitarian organizations to help end extreme poverty in our lifetime. This belief guided many of her experiences at Yale, from serving as a Board Member of the Dwight Hall Center for Public Service and Social Justice to concentrating her senior research on social entrepreneurship.

Lauren journeyed with the CCC as a recent Yale alumnus. She earned her B.A. in Ethics, Politics, and Economics in 2005. At the time, she was the Woodbridge Fellow to President & Secretary of Yale. She continued her fellowship in 07-08, researching intellectual property issues for the Office of the General Counsel. Since 2007, she has served as an Advisor to the Board of the Maryland-based nonprofit Americans for Informed Democracy. She remains keenly focused on international development, education policy, children's rights, and institutions for social justice and will carry these interests into her next adventure as a law student in Fall 2008. [ minimize ]