Lauren Buller

2021-2022 | Los Angeles County - Public Defender

LAUREN BULLER has spent her career working towards educational equity in the nonprofit and public sectors. Most recently, she led large-scale strategic and operational initiatives as a vice president at Teach For America, and as a Broad Resident in urban education for Newark Public Schools. Lauren was previously a consultant with McKinsey & Company, where she worked with clients in the consumer goods and pharmaceutical industries. Lauren has an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.A. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Project

Los Angeles County operates the largest jail system and de-facto mental health care facility in the United States, holding more than 17,000 people daily, nearly 30% of whom have a serious mental health disorder. The County has taken several steps to reduce its reliance on incarceration and expand diversion and treatment programs, including conducting a successful pre-plea mental health diversion pilot. FUSE will partner with L.A. County to scale the pilot into the new Rapid Diversion Program under the County’s “Alternatives to Incarceration Initiative.” FUSE will work to implement a cohesive and effective program for eight courthouses in the next year, supporting a sustained and significant reduction in the County jail population.