Lauren King, Program Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
EOF Steering Committee member since 2025
Lauren N. King is a Program Officer for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan. In this role, she supports the foundation’s systems change efforts to promote thriving children, working families and equitable communities.
As a program officer focused on employment equity, King identifies and nurtures opportunities to effect positive systemic change within communities; executes programming efforts aligned with the organizational direction; and works closely with other staff to ensure the integration and coordination of initiatives. Throughout her career, King has brought together cross-sector partnerships to promote workforce equity and create innovative pathways to economic security and wealth building.
Prior to joining the foundation, King was the director of workforce programs at the Greater New Orleans Foundation. While serving as director, she staffed the New Orleans Works Collaborative (NOW) and led the New Orleans Workforce Innovations Program (NOWI). This collaborative brought together philanthropy, city government and grassroots organizations to create a nationally accredited, entry-level stormwater management curriculum that provided jobseekers with skills needed to advance their careers. Prior to this, King served as director of community and economic development at Delgado Community College; director of workforce development at Delgado Community College; and project director for JOB1 Business and Career Solutions.
King has volunteered on several nonprofit and governmental committees and boards, currently serving on the Workforce Matters Steering Committee and the Higher Education and Re-entry Funder Collaborative steering committee.
King holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communications and a master’s in curriculum and instruction from Xavier University of Louisiana and a doctorate in urban higher education from Jackson State University. She was recognized as an Aspen Institute Workforce Leadership Fellow in 2019 and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.