Lauren Damme

About Lauren Damme

Creating measurable change for the world’s most vulnerable has been my lifelong commitment. Over the past 20+ years, I have led $500M+ in efforts across 30+ countries to build partnerships and data, and translate research into actions that have improved education, labor, and health outcomes for millions of workers and children.As Director of Research at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Chief Evaluation Office (CEO)- in a role similar to a VP or COO - with our amazing team, I led the advancement of the office into a nationally-recognized leader in public sector innovation, for which I received DOL’s highest award for transformational leadership. Steering a $150 million portfolio of grants and contracts, I built internal structures, recruited and hired top talent, and integrated learning, operations, and strategy across 17 agencies and staff. CEO’s work directly informed workforce development, income security, and labor protections across the U.S. and globally.As an executive, I bring expertise in organizational change: driving complex,$500 million funding system reforms during political and leadership transitions; strategically instituting new, efficient models of project management during 200% growth; and directing a redevelopment of digital communications, leading to increases in employee engagement by 2,030%, website engagement by around and targeted subscriber growth of 11,900%. My executive skillset also includes a high level of AI literacy: I have led GenAI model development projects, overseen machine learning projects to enhance regulatory strategy, used AI in my own research, and completed AI training to assess new opportunities and risks in organizational innovation.On behalf of the U.S. Government, I have led bilateral negotiations and directed $40M+ research portfolios of evaluations, survey research and M&E system development addressing forced labor, human trafficking and child labor in 30+ countries, resulting in government-backed reforms that improved long-term outcomes for millions of children. I remain an internationally-recognized expert in evaluation, labor and human rights measurement with extensive experience collecting data in poor contexts.I am now open to full-time roles and consultancy collaborations to: 1) help companies collect and analyze data to demonstrate compliance with human rights due diligence legislation, 2) think through responsible AI product development and integration, and 3) design evaluations to test the efficacy of programs and products.Get in touch at: C••••••••@gmail.com

Experience

1. Senior Fellow

   Data Foundation

   Jun 2025 — Present · Washington, DC, US

   I support the Data Foundation’s initiatives at the intersections of Generative AI, evaluation and evidence-building. https://datafoundation.org/news/team/633/633-Lauren-Damme-PhD

Education

• The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

  MSc, Distinction, Development Management

• The George Washington University

  Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, Public Policy - Program Evaluation

  2020 — 2025

• The George Washington University

  Master of Philosophy - MPhil, Public Policy - Program Evaluation

• Iowa State University - Ivy College of Business

  BSc, Marketing Research-Business with Honors

Skills

• International Development
• Grants
• Public Policy
• Impact Evaluation
• Training
• Policy
• Economics
• Analysis
• Program Management
• Qualitative Research
• Non-Profits
• International Relations
• Survey Research
• Survey Design
• Writing
• Sustainability
• Strategic Planning
• Program Evaluation
• Research
• Public Speaking
• Nonprofits