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Lauren is a community organizer by nature, by nurture, and by necessity.  A changemaker in her bones, she is currently the Sustainability and Transportation Coordinator at the Hamline Midway Coalition, working on local food, community solar, multi-modal transportation connections, and just about any project championed by the community.  Lauren is particularly enthused to be part of the Friendly Streets Initiative because of its vibrant, fun-infused community process for neighborhood visioning; she hopes that this model will spread not only into other neighborhoods in the city but into other institutions as well.

Arriving in Minneapolis/St. Paul via Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Lauren is originally from Illinois but has happily made Minnesota her home, despite the turbulent weather.  She is proud to be among the several members of the Friendly Streets team who are year round bike commuters, and will be starting her sixth winter biking this year.  She also completed a nearly 1,000 mile solo trek of the Mississippi River by bike in September 2013, and can’t wait for her next sabbatical adventure.

In her nearly non-existent free time (wouldn’t it be nice if we could live several lives all at once?), Lauren volunteers at the collectively run Boneshaker Bookstore, reads voraciously, especially graphic memoirs and anything about farming/food, weeds and waters a borderline ridiculous number of community garden plots, and writes.  She hopes to eventually have a farm/intentional community/retreat center/camp for queer youth, to write a book, and to produce nearly all of her food with her partner, Cliff.