Hola! My name is Lauren, and I’m from Carmi, Illinois, which is a small agricultural town in the southeastern part of the state. I moved to Nashville in 2020, and that led to my matriculation to Belmont in 2021 and to graduating with my B.A. in May 2024!

While at Belmont, I had amazing teachers who encouraged me to use my writing as a means to enact justice and empower others. This led me to New Hope Girls.

New Hope Girls is an anti-human trafficking organization. Their mission is to rescue girls and empower women, and the men and women behind this cause do this by rescuing girls for life. Meaning, when a girl is rescued, she has a home that she will never age out of. Additionally, New Hope Girls empowers women by establishing a fair-trade textile workshop, which directly serves the local neighborhoods that are most prone to trafficking exploitation.

My roles within the organization include living with the girls and providing care as needed. I will help with data collection and work with the girls to share their stories. Additionally, I will be assisting the founder of New Hope Girls as her executive assistant. One of my main objectives will include editing her upcoming manuscript. This job utilizes my skills of writing, stories, language, and creative problem-solving—all skills I honed at Belmont.

Throughout my college years, I felt a pull to serve vulnerable women and children. After serving my local community, I dreamed about the possibility of immersive, global service. Then, I heard about the Lumos Award. This opportunity to use my writing and management skills to directly support women and children is a need I am excited to fill. It is also a lesson in leadership training that will forever shape me into the woman I aspire to become.

After my nine months in the Dominican Republic, I hope to continue empowering women and children through my writing, education, and language acquisition in Nashville and beyond.