Lauren Bieniek

Lauren Bieniek currently serves as a Program Officer focused on Development Finance at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), where she supports Giga, a joint ITU-UNICEF initiative aimed at connecting every school to the Internet by 2030. In this role, Lauren supports global advocacy, research, and project support for digital infrastructure investments that can drive last mile connectivity in hard-to-reach communities.

Prior to ITU, Lauren spent nearly a decade at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) supporting grant portfolios to advance innovation and digital programming in partner countries. Most recently, Lauren’s work focused on structuring blended finance support for internet infrastructure companies, primarily in Africa.

With a focus on leveraging market-driven approaches to international development, Lauren has worked in corporate social responsibility, public-private partnerships, and advancing cross-sector collaboration to enable social impact. Lauren holds degrees from the Pennsylvania State University and Tufts University in the United States and completed a Boren Fellowship for Graduate Students in Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania