Lauren is a program design specialist committed to promoting food security by co-creating innovations alongside vulnerable communities. She is a technical advisor to two program portfolios in West and East Africa. Her focus is to build up communities to be the drivers of their own change using a participatory and adaptive approach, recognizing that the barriers to food security are complex. By empowering farmers to dissect information about climate, environment, culture, market access and supply, community and household dynamics, Lauren aims to support resilient, self-reliant communities. Lauren actively works towards cultivating teams that develop effective monitoring, evaluation, and learning tools to strategically inform programming to better serve their partner communities. She's a Masters Candidate in Global Policy Studies at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Policy, specializing in evaluative methods and non-profit management. Lauren holds a BSc in Natual Resources and Environmental Science.