Lauren focuses on climate adaptation and resilience, disaster risk reduction, and sustainable design. At CFA, Lauren supports research on innovations in climate finance and sustainable investment initiatives, U.S. and European climate policies at local, state, and federal levels, and COVID-19 recovery efforts.

Prior to CFA, Lauren has spent most of her career in public service working for the U.S. Government. Most recently, Lauren worked to help establish the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s new $500 Million pre-disaster mitigation program – Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC). With BRIC, she created indicators to measure improvements in community resilience and capacity building. She also led efforts to analyze and improve structural processes to reduce access and service gaps for historically underserved communities. Prior to BRIC, she worked in the Agency’s Continuous Improvement program. She teamed directly with disaster responders throughout multiple incidents, including COVID-19 response and hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, to adopt best practices and realize efficiencies in real time.

Between 2015 and 2016 Lauren worked for the World Wildlife Fund supporting their environment and disaster management portfolio. With an international team of researchers and writers, she developed guidance on natural and nature-based methods for flood risk reduction. Before that, she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia from 2012 – 2014 where she witnessed first-hand the impacts of climate change on some of the world’s most vulnerable populations. While there, she lived and worked with rural cooperatives, teaching principles of integrated agriculture to help farmers adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Lauren is a Landscape Architect by trade. She holds a Master of Arts in Global Environmental Policy from American University’s School of International Service and a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Maryland.