https://laurendapenafraiz.com Lauren Dapena Fraiz Fri, 28 Feb 2025 19:34:54 +0000 https://laurendapenafraiz.com en https://laurendapenafraiz.com/About Fri, 28 Feb 2025 19:34:50 +0000 Lauren Dapena Fraiz https://laurendapenafraiz.com/About About <img width="918" height="693" width_o="918" height_o="693" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/916f737b7c3b3323c45b0ea2f3c9b500152569a07a644e259435ad2091f640d3/Screen-Shot-2025-03-02-at-3.51.16-PM.png" data-mid="228062666" border="0" data-scale="67" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/918/i/916f737b7c3b3323c45b0ea2f3c9b500152569a07a644e259435ad2091f640d3/Screen-Shot-2025-03-02-at-3.51.16-PM.png" />Hello! I'm Lauren, a program director and practitioner focused on the intersection of care, collaborative knowledge production, and research. Through my work, I aim to build more equitable and sustainable systems while strengthening social infrastructures. I am based in Brooklyn, New York, on the ancestral homelands of the Lenape people. Originally, I am from Galicia, located on the northwest coast of Spain. I hold a degree in Psychology and a Master’s in Psychotherapy from the Complutense University of Madrid. After moving to New York, I worked as a preschool teacher while conducting research with various psychology labs. This experience led to a long career in research coordination across behavioral, public, and community health, working with institutions such as Columbia University’s School of Public Health, CUNY School of Public Health, NYU Medical Center, and The New School for Social Research. My research framework is grounded in feminist epistemology, which I have explored extensively through various gender justice initiatives. One such initiative is Las Marías, a bilingual English-Spanish critical pedagogy project that I co-founded. Through this initiative, I led workshops to educate youth and others on applied feminist theory, collaborating with cultural institutions and community organizations such &nbsp;Brooklyn Public Library, The Door, El Puente, Loisaida Center, and more.My work has also extended to archives, and engaging in public translational work and storytelling. &nbsp;My contributions have been recognized through residencies and fellowships at&nbsp; Clocktower Radio at Pioneer Works, &nbsp;MIT Feminist Futures, and Woodward Residency.&nbsp;I have also published in Places Journal,&nbsp;Blood Orange Review, presented in conferences including AUP’s Caring Futures, and am part of the steering committees of international sustainability network VR(Ex)Change and the ecological regeneration community of practice Artech NatureCulture. I was Project Manager and later Director of Research and Programs of&nbsp;The Maintainers, an interdisciplinary research and practices focused on the concepts of maintenance, repair, and care. &nbsp;I am particularly interested in democratizing knowledge, knowledge preservation, advancing climate justice, advocating for care, repair, and well-being economies, and developing circular system designs and resilient infrastructures—both physical and systemic—that prioritize repairability and sustainability. https://laurendapenafraiz.com/Project-The-Maintainers Fri, 28 Feb 2025 19:34:50 +0000 Lauren Dapena Fraiz https://laurendapenafraiz.com/Project-The-Maintainers PROJECT: The Maintainers <img width="1148" height="830" width_o="1148" height_o="830" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7a0acc599c72e13a3b51441fdf79f6b4d14029a8dab55c40311c87d26b3d55d5/Screen-Shot-2023-05-30-at-4.33.10-PM.png" data-mid="227400035" border="0" data-scale="54" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7a0acc599c72e13a3b51441fdf79f6b4d14029a8dab55c40311c87d26b3d55d5/Screen-Shot-2023-05-30-at-4.33.10-PM.png" /> The Maintainers&nbsp; is a global research and practice network interested in the concepts of maintenance, infrastructure, repair, and the myriad forms of labor and expertise that sustain our human-built world. Through collaborative efforts across an interwoven network of communities, Maintainers’ pursue a mission of maintaining self and society through reflection, research, and advocacy in the hopes of achieving a more caring and well-maintained world. I started managing the project in 2020, and became a co-director in 2024.&nbsp; For this project, I have led an interdisciplinary global research network of scholars and practitioners, guiding them through landscape scans, qualitative research, and storytelling. This work bridges theory and practice by helping scholars share knowledge with broader audiences and supporting practitioners in translating on-the-ground experiences into case studies that inform theory. I have also designed and secured funding for fellowship awards, guiding fellows conduct research on topics such as networks of care, degrowth, circular economies, education, and environmental advocacy.&nbsp; I am a member of the steering committee for the international sustainability network&nbsp;VR(Ex)Change, a coalition that seeks to&nbsp; better integrate and accelerate work and research in the areas of sustainable production and behaviors related to sustainable consumption. My work has been published in Places Journal, and I have represented the network at international conferences, design sprints, and other convenings, as well as contributing public translational work (in this example, exploring tool libraries as a pathway to alternative consumption models). My research interests center on transcending traditional academic pathways through participatory action research, community needs assessments, and methodologies rooted in care and equity.Through the Maintainers, I have partnered with multiple groups, including Culture of Repair, Repair Economy Summmit, and UnitedforALICE, among others.&nbsp; &nbsp; https://laurendapenafraiz.com/Main-page Fri, 28 Feb 2025 19:34:54 +0000 Lauren Dapena Fraiz https://laurendapenafraiz.com/Main-page &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; LAUREN&nbsp; &nbsp; DAPENA&nbsp; &nbsp; FRAIZ <img width="1052" height="948" width_o="1052" height_o="948" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/be1c687b66e61647d50a2cece00c620b4ce91f929bcc9bba4c38c44638ab421d/Screen-Shot-2025-02-03-at-12.22.00-PM.png" data-mid="227400069" border="0" data-scale="93" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/be1c687b66e61647d50a2cece00c620b4ce91f929bcc9bba4c38c44638ab421d/Screen-Shot-2025-02-03-at-12.22.00-PM.png" /> HELLO! ︎ My name is Lauren, and I work in project management and community-based research. I design and support collaborative projects that center care, sustainability, public health, and collective well-being. Read more... ︎ My work includes Directing research and programs at The Maintainers.Managing projects at Educopia Institute.Conducting research at Columbia University, CUNY Research Foundation, and more.Co-founding a gender justice education project,&nbsp;Las Marías, and leading&nbsp;community initiatives. &nbsp; Contact&nbsp;︎ ︎