A young legend in our midst

14 Nov 2019

14 November 2019 

Lauren was named the National Keep Australia Beautiful Young Legend for 2019, in recognition of her significant commitment to positively impacting life in her state.

She was nominated for the award for her work with the Industry Road Safety Alliance, promoting road safety in her home town of Collie, which she has been involved in since her brother, Connor, died in a road accident in 2016 at age 18.

“Advocating for road safety was something I felt I needed to do to help prevent other families experiencing the pain that we have,” Lauren said.

She also co-founded The Children of Maasai Educational Program, which provides education and healthcare to marginalised groups such as women, girls and the disabled in Kenya.

“The charity started from a trip to Africa in 2015. It was created by myself and two Kenyan locals and has really grown from there,” Lauren explained.

“We focus on building solutions from the ground-up and giving the community a chance to decide their own future.”

Lauren is most proud of opening the first and only special needs centre in the area, providing free education for children with disability.

“It’s all locally run, and it’s very encouraging to see it go from strength to strength,” she said.

St John of God Health Care General Counsel and Company Secretary Larissa Johnstone said she was proud to have Lauren on her team.

“Lauren’s commitment to charity work is outstanding; her ability to see a need, and get right in to helping is very inspiring. I often wonder how she fits it all in,” Larissa said.

Lauren recently embarked on a Masters in International Development, which she hopes will lead to more humanitarian work.