Lauren Simmons

Lauren is an Ed.M. candidate at Harvard Graduate School of Education studying education policy. She is also an intern at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard, where she leads a multidisciplinary focused on the role of education in city-level climate action. As a Sustainability Fellow, she is working to design and facilitate learning experiences focused on climate justice. She seeks to inspire her colleagues at HGSE to consider how issues of climate justice and action relate to their areas of interest. 

With a decade of experience in education research and program direction, Lauren aims to understand how children can access what they need to thrive by conducting rigorous research and facilitating participatory program design. After witnessing firsthand, the seismic effect of disrupted learning on students’ wellbeing, she is particularly interested in how school systems respond to the disruptions in learning caused by climate change. Her career goals include district-level engagement in strategic planning to prepare for such interruptions.  

In her personal time, she enjoys music, reading, and spending time with her husband and two young children.