Lauren Johnson

Director of Community Impact, Social Venture Partners Portland

Lauren Johnson is Director of Community Impact for Social Venture Partners Portland (SVP), where she provides strategic guidance and operational management of SVP’s portfolio of nonprofit investments. With the goal of ensuring that all children in Portland have the foundation for learning and life success, she oversees SVP’s venture philanthropy partnerships with early childhood organizations—leveraging the time, expertise, influence, and resources for strategic and sustainable solutions to this intractable community problem.


Previously, Lauren was a program officer at Thrive Foundation for Youth, an innovative venture philanthropy foundation based in Silicon Valley. Her focus was studying research on how to help young people thrive and translating it into practical application. Lauren's past decade as a leader in philanthropy builds upon multiple roles as a program manager, director and Board member for several non-profit organizations. Her Psychology degree from Williams College has been foundational to all of her work.


When Lauren’s not hard at work, she’s usually hard at play in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. She’s passionate about distance running, hiking, road biking, and camping in the summer months; when the rain arrives, you’ll still find her competing in elite running races across the U.S., as well as reading, cross-country skiing, cooking, or traveling internationally. In 2016, she looks forward to competing at the USA Olympic Trials in the marathon.