Lauren Bieniek

Lauren Bieniek is a project coordinator and research assistant with the CSIS Project on U.S. Leadership in Development (USLD), where her interests include foreign aid effectiveness, innovative solutions for development, and economic growth in low-income countries. Prior to joining USLD, Ms. Bieniek interned with the CSIS Africa Program, supporting projects related to U.S. foreign policy toward sub-Saharan Africa. Previously, she interned with the Community Knowledge Project at the University of California, Irvine, where she researched structural inequality and empowerment as a means for community-driven development. Earlier, she worked in Eshakula, Kenya, where she aided in the design and execution of several community development projects, as well as served as a secondary school teacher. Ms. Bieniek graduated with a bachelor of philosophy degree focused on social justice and global development in addition to a bachelor of science in international studies and minors in civic and community engagement and Spanish from the Pennsylvania State University Schreyer Honors College in 2010.