Hello, Simran here! I could not be more honored to introduce you all to Lauren Greenberg, my best friend since I’ve been five years old and truly the most selfless, kind-hearted person I know.

Lauren Greenberg is one of our wonderful Communications Managers here at School for a Village, where she helps manage and create content for our social media pages and blog, as well as makes marketing materials such as pitch decks, flyers, and impact reports. Lauren is 22 years old, and like me, she was born and raised on Long Island, NY. She graduated from Wesleyan University in May 2022 and is currently a nursing student at SUNY Brockport, a school in Upstate New York. While she plans to work in the hospital as an RN for a bit, she eventually hopes to pursue further education to transition to a public health nursing role. This is the perfect role for Lauren, as she is committed to changing the lives of those around her for the better. She attributes her passion for helping others to her father, who is one of her biggest inspirations and who spent his career as a cardiologist offering unconditional support to his patients. In college, one of Lauren’s favorite courses was “Critical Approaches to the History of Disease.” She enjoyed learning about tuberculosis in Japan, and since the course occurred at the start of COVID-19 pandemic, it was interesting to see all the parallels between history and the present unfold in real-time. 

Lauren has two older brothers, Aaron and Adam. Aaron lives in New York City near Central Park with his wife, Leslie, and baby son, Ronin. Adam is a professor in Italy and has a girlfriend named Veronica. Her mom, Liz, is a nurse—I guess the healthcare gene runs in the family! Growing up, Lauren loved kayaking with her father, playing sports such as tennis and ice hockey, being a camp counselor, volunteering at the nursing home, and hanging out with her friends. In her free time, she loves watching Grey’s Anatomy (she is 100% the Meredith to my Christina), baking brownies (I am forever indebted to her for introducing me to the magic of the Ghirardelli double chocolate mix), attending Church, and going on walks. She also loves eating dark chocolate and vegetable soups, as well as listening to songs from the “Dear Evan Hansen” soundtrack and artists such as John Legend, Alicia Keys, Buskin and Batteau Trio, Dean Lewis, and Burna Boy. One of her all-time favorite movies is “Up”—it always pulls on her heart strings! One of the mottos she tries to live by (which was also her high school yearbook quote) is “It’s never crowded along the extra mile.” As one of her closest and oldest friends, I can testify to the fact that Lauren always goes the extra mile to support the people she loves. Whether it’s by writing the most personal and heartfelt essay-length birthday cards, bringing a batch of her world-famous brownies to my house to celebrate an accomplishment, or sending me the most uplifting texts when I’m feeling down, Lauren has shown me what true friendship looks like.

And just like that, another team member spotlight story comes to a close! I hope that anyone reading this has someone like Lauren in their corner. As my mom always says, “Everyone needs a Lauren in their lives.”