Team
Lauren Marra
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Lauren is a seasoned facilitator, systems thinker, social impact strategist, connector, and people leader with a passion for helping leaders and teams generate transformative ideas and turn them into action. Equally experienced in working with community organizers, purpose-driven executives, and creative teams, Lauren brings more than 15 years of experience in strategic planning, facilitation, and program design and management. She established Groundwork Partners in 2019 to provide support to organizations committed to racial, gender, reproductive, and economic justice.
Prior to founding Groundwork, Lauren led the strategy and learning practice at Community Wealth Partners and oversaw Arabella Advisors’ 30+ person philanthropic advisory practice through a period of historic growth in revenue, personnel, and impact. During her tenure, Lauren advised the Ms. Foundation for Women, Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan DC, Echoing Green, the Horizon Foundation of Howard County, Jobs for the Future, The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the AARP Foundation, and others on new strategies, programs, projects, and collaborations.
Previously, Lauren led federal advocacy campaigns, designed policy solutions, and developed cross-sector partnerships around issues impacting women, youth, and people of color. She held policy roles at the Economic Policy Institute, Center for Law and Social Policy, Pew Charitable Trusts, and the U.S. Department of Labor. Lauren began her career as a Jesuit Volunteer and case manager at Chrysalis, where she provided people experiencing poverty the resources, support, and trust needed to find and sustain employment.
Lauren holds a BS in economics from Boston College and a Master’s in Public Policy from Georgetown University, where she was a Nielson Philanthropy Fellow at the Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership. Lauren is an avid traveler, learner, and connector who enjoys urban hiking, Monday crossword puzzles, and strategy board games. She is the mother of two vivacious and loving girls, Harper and Maeve, and partner of civil rights advocate, Joe.
Contact: lauren.marra@groundworkpartners.co
Affiliate Practitioners
Groundwork Partners frequently collaborates with other practitioners who bring augmented capacity, complementary skill sets, and different lived experiences. What unites us is our shared passion for laughter, collaboration, problem solving, and dismantling barriers to dignity, love, and justice for all people. Here are some of our recent partners:
Julia Ames & Patti Look
Founder & Chief Creative Officer and Graphic
Designer, Humankind Studio
Amy Gudgeon
Founder & Principal
Studio Watershed
Karla Morrison-Brooks
Collaborator
Groundwork Partners
Allison Brown
Founder & Principal
Shepherd Impact
Sarah Koch & Jenn Roche
Founder & Managing Director and Deputy Director, SK Consulting
Mara Child
Collaborator
Groundwork Partners
Rachel Mosher-Williams
Founder & Principal
RMW Consulting
Shilpi Shah
Founder & Principal
SKS Consulting
Interested in working with us?
We are always excited to connect with people who share our passion for this work. If you have expertise in the areas we work, or complementary skills in finance and operations, strategic communications, and digital design for the social sector, we’re interested in learning more about your work and how we might collaborate. Black, brown, and female practitioners whose expertise we can amplify are especially welcome.