Lauren works with major corporations and foundations to help align their philanthropic giving and community engagement initiatives within a cohesive communications and policy framework. Her work is aimed at leveraging existing or expanded philanthropic initiatives to move the needle on key policy goals and proactive reputation needs.

Lauren also advises leading nonprofits on how to maximize their policy and communications initiatives to elevate themselves within their industry, and capture donor attention. As a former development consultant, she is experienced in navigating the nuanced communications needs of various donor sectors while multiplying the impact of policy and PR efforts.

Prior to joining Cornerstone, Lauren served as a nonprofit communications and development consultant for agencies based in Washington, DC and New York City, managing strategies for a wide range of nonprofit and advocacy clients. She has deep experience developing compelling campaigns and nuanced crisis communications.

Lauren started her career teaching writing, public speaking and political theory as a graduate student and research fellow at the University of Maryland (UMD). In addition to her fellowship with UMD, Lauren was an Arthur J. Quinn Memorial Fellow at the University of California – Berkeley and an Elmer L. Andersen Research Scholar at the University of Minnesota. Throughout her career, Lauren has written for notable outlets such as The Huffington Post, Medium, The Conversation and more.

Lauren received her BA in communications and her BS in Spanish from Georgia Southern University, in addition to her master’s and doctoral candidacy in rhetoric & political communication from UMD.