Lauren doesn't have a lot of time to waste. The rate of humanitarian and conservation needs increases rapidly and unforgivingly. Technology is advancing at an incredible pace, but our ability to solve these needs is trailing.
Lauren Woodman is the CEO of NetHope, an organization charged with transferring hardware, software, research, and best-practices from the tech community to the largest international humanitarian organizations in the world. Whether it's getting connectivity equipment to West Africa during the Ebola crises or leveraging Silicon Valley expertise to help maximize the impact of NGO members, Lauren spends her days tackling the toughest development and conservation challenges alongside the world's leading international NGOs.
The intersection of tech, development, and education has defined Lauren's professional career. With a graduate degree in foreign policy from John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Lauren's profession has been driven by a passion to use technology to solve hard international problems. A stint at the United Nations, an executive position at the Software and Information Industry Association, and over a decade running Microsoft's global education programs, all of Lauren's experiences led her to her true calling in 2013 to lead NetHope through a transformative period and deepen its mission.
With Lauren at the helm, NetHope has been driving a movement to put advanced connective technology in the hands of NGO workers in the field. She is tasked with sparking the tech world's interest in the NGO community and the developing world, all in the name of harnessing new technology to drive productivity and incite advancements in humanitarian work.
While much of Lauren's life inevitably involves plane hopping as she brokers relationships between the tech and NGO worlds, she battles to spend her weekends at home in Seattle with her husband and two girls. Lauren's yoga studio, which she built in the basement of her home, helps her to maintain her focus on two core beliefs:
