Lauren Riga
Acting Administrator - Redevelopment, Cityof Indianapolis at Associate Faculty Member, IUPUI School for Public and Environmental Affairs
Profile
Lauren is a global smart cities analyst and freelance writer. She currently works for the City of Indianapolis, Department of Metropolitan Development and is an Associate Faculty Member at IUPUI School for Public and Environmental Affairs. She has been featured in several media outlets such as Forbes, Nature and The Times, among others; and hosted a radio show called Sustainability 101 with Lauren. Lauren was also the first Green Urbanism Director for the City of Gary and a Sustainability Instructor at Valparaiso University Graduate School of Business.
Lauren's international experience on smart cities includes competitive academic and professional initiatives where she helped develop and author blueprints on low carbon futures with global thought leaders, including a Fellowship with the Waterloo Global Science Initiative (WGSI). Additionally, Lauren has served on several government committees and has been a delegate at United Nations conferences related to water, energy, sustainable development and climate change.
Lauren graduated at the top of her class with an honors M.S. from Valparaiso University in International Commerce & Policy with a focus on advanced emerging markets and received her Graduate Certificate in Environmental Affairs from Indiana University Northwest. She obtained her B.A.in Political Science and Communications from Rollins College.