Lauren is an award-winning international researcher, author, speaker, and advocate for women, youth, and migrants. She is an Adjunct Professor specializing in civil society and NGO management in the Faculty of International Business and Economics at Sophia University. In parallel, she is a Ph.D. Candidate in International Relations and Researcher at the University of Tokyo and an LLM Candidate in Law at the University of Edinburgh.
She is also the Founder and Advisor of Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP) Tokyo, an NGO committed to providing a nexus of engagement for international scholars, students, professionals, and thought leaders across sectors, cultivating the next generation of foreign policy leaders.
Lauren has been a stakeholder to the G20 since the 2020 Saudi Presidency, when she was selected to represent the United States as Head Delegate to the Youth20 (Y20) Engagement Group. She was a speaker at the 2020 Y20 Summit and G20 Summit. She has since actively contributed as a member of the Civil20 (C20) in 2021-2023. This year, Lauren was selected to represent the United States as a Women20 (W20) Delegate and was a speaker at the W20 Summit in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu. Under the Japan Presidency of the G7 this year, Lauren has also served as a Civil7 (C7) Coordinator for the Open and Resilient Societies Working Group in Civic Space and Digital Democracy. She was also selected as a Women7 (W7) Japan Advisor and Co-coordinator for the Working Group on Women’s Empowerment, Meaningful Participation, and Leadership. Lauren was a speaker at the W7 Summit, the G7 Digital and Tech Ministers Meeting, and the G7 Gender Ministers and Civil Society Dialogue. She is a co-author of the W7 Digital Statement, and coordinator and co-author of the C7-P7-T7-W7-Y7 Joint Statement on Gender Equality. Previously, Lauren has worked as an Adjunct Professor at Temple University Japan, an Official at the OECD, and an Editorial Board Member of the Journal for Human Security Studies. She has contributed to projects with the UN-OHCHR, UNICEF, UN-ESCAP, UN-MGCY, and YOUNGO.