Lauren Parnell Marino has received the Mary Washburn Willets Award for Excellence in the Social Sciences for her project, “Women’s Entrepreneurial Networks in Uganda: A Theory of Change and Empowerment.”
Lauren is a PhD candidate in the Development Studies Program. Her research interests include gender, empowerment discourse, women’s labor force participation, and feminist methods. Her dissertation research examines the connection between formal associations for entrepreneurs and women’s empowerment in Uganda. As a part of her doctoral training, Lauren studied Luganda, earning multiple FLAS Fellowships along the way. Lauren has years of prior experience working in the international development sector. She earned a Bachelor’s degree with honors from Northwestern University in Social Policy, and a Master’s degree in Gender, Globalization, and Rights from the National University of Ireland, Galway as a George J. Mitchell Scholar. In her spare time, she’s a birder, baker, and photographer.