Lauren Smith-Pierson

About Lauren Smith-Pierson

Lauren is a creative and data-driven strategic thinker with a passion for curating and translating complex information into applied daily wisdom. She revels in the creative process of bringing people together to have impactful learning experiences and collaborating on products and services that move the needle on key social outcomes. Weaving together a unique background in public policy, research, human centered design, coaching, and SaaS customer success and operations, Lauren aims to improve communities of care by leveraging technology and human connection. She has worked across several functions in SaaS tech startups including customer success, operations, and learning and talent development. Prior to joining the tech world, Lauren worked as a strategist and evaluator for leading foundations, government agencies, and NGOs aimed at achieving complex systems change across a range of issue areas including global health, U.S. healthcare access and delivery, and education. She has deep experience facilitating learning communities and managing large-scale research and change management efforts among diverse, cross-sector stakeholder groups in the U.S. and developing country contexts. Her most satisfying projects have focused on bringing the voice of the end user to decision makers to strengthen design and implementation of health information technologies and data use initiatives in the U.S. and throughout Southern & East Africa - and more recently, supporting the transformation of learning cultures and upskilling efforts at leading organizations around the world. KEY SKILLS: Coaching // Learning Experience Design // Instructional Design // Learning Technology and Analytics // Curation // Customer Success // User Journey Mapping // User research // Program and Project Management // Change Management // Consulting // Product Adoption and Engagement // Qualitative and quantitative research design and methods // Program Evaluation // Performance measurement // Systems thinking tools and processes

Experience

1. Chief Operating Officer & Matrescence Guide

   Mysha

   Jul 2023 — Present

Education

• UC Irvine

  B.A. with Honors, Sociology

  2005 — 2008

• UC Irvine

  Bachelor's degree, Sociology

• UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs

  Master's of Public Policy

• GreenFig

  Digital Marketing Science microdegree

  2017 — 2018

• UCLA

  M.P.P., Public Policy

  2008 — 2010

Skills

• Start-Ups
• Research Design
• Nvivo
• Qualitative Research
• Ngos
• Spss
• Public Policy
• Strategy
• Fundraising
• Marketing Strategy
• User Research
• Software as a Service (Saas)
• Philanthropy
• Program Evaluation
• Branding & Identity
• Project Management
• Stata
• Data Analysis
• Grants
• Research
• Venture Capital
• Grant Writing
• Policy Analysis
• Strategic Customer Development
• Healthcare Information Technology
• Developmental Evaluation