Upcoming Community Calls

Lauren is a 2002 US Naval Academy graduate, former Navy Intelligence Officer, and OEF and OIF veteran. Lauren’s USNA experience was tumultuous: She experienced MST during her Plebe year; in her final year at USNA, September 11^th happened, which altered the course of what she expected for her military career. Soon after graduation, Lauren entered Intelligence Officer training. She deployed on an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf and to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar as an Air Intel Officer, and later deployed to Guantanamo Bay, where she led a team of 35 joint servicemembers and contractors in support of interrogation operations. While deployed to GTMO, Lauren was diagnosed with PTSD. After completing this deployment, she resigned her commission and separated from the Navy in 2007. During her active duty service, Lauren excelled at leading teams during highly stressful situations, preparing teams of Intel professionals for wartime deployments, and coaching senior Intelligence officers preparing to return to the fleet.

Lauren transitioned to civilian life just prior to the start of the 2007 recession. After experiencing a job search, she accepted a position where she felt truly miserable. It was this difficult transition & seeing the challenging transition experiences of her peers that led Lauren to return to graduate school in 2008 to earn her M.Ed. in Rehabilitation Counseling (commonly referred to as “Vocational Rehabilitation” or “Voc Rehab”). Since completing graduate school, Lauren has maintained this professional credential and worked in a variety of social service settings, including the Cleveland VA Medical Center. While working with populations with intensive needs (with the PTSD Specialty Clinic and the Polytrauma/TBI Clinic), Lauren was able to greatly surpass the VA’s successful career placement expectations even during the COVID-19 unemployment crisis. Following this experience, Lauren decided to transition to a Workforce Development position in the tech industry to create change on a greater scale and help provide more opportunities to underrepresented populations. She currently works as a Senior Program Manager at a Manufacturing USA Innovation Institute.

Regardless of her role, Lauren has always been passionate about helping people to achieve their goals and have the knowledge, confidence, and resources to improve their own lives. She loves personal and professional development, and loves asking others about their career paths. Lauren has volunteered with many different military and veteran-supporting organizations during the 17 years since entering civilian life, and is especially passionate about mentoring women veterans preparing to transition out of the military. She is currently serving on the Board of Directors for her USNA class. She also ran for office in 2018 and used her platform to advocate for veteran issues. Lauren is a natural connector who loves to introduce people. She enjoys introspection, reading, powerlifting, yoga, hanging out on her hammock, swimming, gardening, traveling, and playing with her dogs and her kids.