Lauren W. Reliford is a passionate and mission-oriented public and population health professional focused on bridging the gap between social theory, spirituality, research, and practice and bringing them to the forefront of our major policy decisions. Her expertise is on the neurobiological impacts of trauma on child development and in Black birthing women, and the need for policy solutions rooted in this understanding. She currently serves as the Director of Public Policy at Children’s Defense Fund.
Prior to joining CDF, Lauren took her passion for politics and policy and turned it into a profession, focusing on domestic and international public health advocacy for a number of large nonprofit organizations. Lauren’s work as a public health lobbyist allowed her to address the social and political determinants of health that prevented whole health (physical, mental, behavioral, emotional) for Black and Brown communities. Lauren also credits her time doing frontline social work during the pandemic as a turning point in her life and career that demonstrated the real need to address the ineligibility requirements in policies and programs that further poverty and oppression for aging and older adults in need.
Though she is a macro social work practitioner, Lauren still engages with the clinical practitioners in the hopes that their direct experience working with her focus populations will help build a bottom-up, middle-out policy formulation process that centers the lived experience of Black and Brown communities. Her hope is to continue the good work and act on her morals and values at a policy level that either creates a space at the table—or builds a new one—for lived experience.