The interesting part

Hello! I’m Lauryn. I am highly skilled in verbal and written communication strategy, deeply committed to health equity and social justice, and bring energy and passion to every project I touch. I have always wanted to have a hand redesigning systems so that people can live healthier and happier lives.

When I’m not are work, my other interests include rock climbing, hip hop dance classes, collecting pre-COVID frequent flyer miles, learning to watercolor, expensive cocktails, and cheap ramen. 

On this site, you'll find client work, travel stories, and writing samples. Please feel free to reach out with fabulously well-paying job offers, Audible recommendations, and questions about what you have read.

 

The experience part

I have recently joined a superb design team at a US-based healthcare company. As a senior content designer, I'm able to blend my background in public health with my passion for making information engaging, accessible, and actionable for people who need it.

Prior to moving to health tech, the head of Marketing and Comms at global research and design nonprofit. Using a blend of human-centered design methodology and technical expertise, we work with young people around the world to co-create programs and products that work for them.

In this role, and in no particular order, I have had the absolute pleasure of;

  • Leading design research workshops with young people in El Salvador to unearth the potential for pleasure-based sex education

  • Leading focus groups made up of key government stakeholders in Rwanda to test key messaging, gain approval for our school-based SRH program, and build coalitions

  • Managing the logistical and technical support for a virtual conference that highlighted the innovations of youth-facing HIV organizations in Kenya

  • Creating a comprehensive content strategy for young men, women, and parents to educate them on menstruation and then led teams in Ethiopia and India to prototype the unique curriculums

  • Launching a global Youth Leadership Cohort operationalize and advocate for authentic youth engagement within my organization

I have worked with clients and organizations including M+R, the Berkeley Media Studies Group, and the Public Health Institute. Some major projects that I'm proud of include developing a Journalism Braintrust to build relationships between public health advocates and the media, performing qualitative research and key informant interviews to assess disaster preparedness and create recommendations for patients with Type 2 diabetes, and working with a national health organization to understand their authentic engagement with local partners and diverse coalitions.

I am a Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting Student Fellow and traveled to El Salvador in 2017 to write about sex education in the wake of the Zika crisis. Some of my findings have been published by the Pulitzer Center and I have presented my research to classrooms of future reporters and standing room only audiences in Washington D.C.

Before discovering my love of public health returning to graduate school, I served as the director of marketing and social media for Touchstone Climbing and Fitness, the world's largest indoor climbing gym company.

 

The education part

After receiving my degree in peace and conflict studies & journalism from Chapman University, I later went on to pursue my master's degree in public health at Boston University. My coursework in health policy, advocacy, and communication strategy helped me to not only pivot away from private sector marking, but it also helped hone my public health chops, prepare me for what's next, and give me my first opportunity to see what East Coast winters are all about…