Girl Security’s mission is to empower girls and young women from underrepresented communities with the skills, experiences, networks, and support to pursue national security careers, which lead to job sustainability and greater societal impact.

Prior to founding Girl Security, Lauren served as a management consultant, providing strategic and analytical support to clients on local policy issues, including exclusionary land use policies and racial segregation in Chicago for over a decade. From 2002-2007, Lauren served as a national security policy analyst with a Chicago-based think tank, where she specialized in national security law.

In 2022, Lauren was named "One of the Most Influential People in Security" by Security Magazine. She was named "One of 50 Women Making the World a Better Place" by Instyle Magazine in 2021 and awarded the 21st Century Leader Award by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy. Lauren is a former Fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (2003), Truman National Security Project (2006), American Bar Association Standing Committee on Law and National Security (2012) and a former Emerging Leader with Chicago Council on Global Affairs (2017).

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