Lauren’s interest in international development began in 2011 as a volunteer with the Peace Corps in Morocco where she developed a passion for gender equality and individual economic agency. She has since worked in community and social development roles with the Alaska Small Business Development Center and Skills Development Scotland. She took a “leap of faith” and made gender equality her career focus, completing a PhD at Robert Gordon University in organizational and feminist theory. She conducted her thesis on gendered institutions and the ideal worker narrative in the ICT industry, and she brings a strong background in both qualitative and quantitative research. Lauren is a believer in market-based approaches to gender and social inclusion issues, and leads iDE in its GESI policy implementation. She also holds an MBA from the University of Alaska Anchorage and a BA in marketing from Umass Dartmouth.