Meet Lauren Johnson

Lauren received her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature with minors in Environmental Studies and Spanish from Westminister College. Lauren became an Urban Farming Intern with Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation, where she worked on projects relating to urban agriculture. Lauren hopes the RARE AmeriCorps Program will compound her preexisting skills and set her up for a fruitful career. Following her year with RARE, Lauren plans to apply for a dual Master’s degree in Environmental Studies and Public Administration from the University of Oregon.

About Northeast Oregon Economic Development District

The Northeast Oregon Economic Development District (NEOEDD) is a public organization established in 1985. Baker, Union and Wallowa Counties established the District by Intergovernmental Agreement as a way to enhance community and economic development services in the region. Services include: business assistance, training and technical assistance, strategic planning, and program administration/staffing. NEOEDD strives to provide resources and facilitate quality decision making for the benefit of entrepreneurs, businesses and communities in Northeast Oregon.

Lauren is placed with the Northeast Oregon Economic Development District
(NEOEDD), where she will implement a number of recommendations noted in the recently adopted Wallowa County Community Food Assessment. Lauren will research requirement sand resources for the development and offering of food preservation classes and other educational opportunities. She will also work to improve local access to healthy foods by working with local schools to further develop participant and engagement of students and other community members in their community gardens. Lastly, Lauren will organize and facilitate a branding committee so they can create food and farm standards for the Wallowa County Brant, ultimately having the brand available for use by the summer of 2015.