Prof Lauren Graham

Overview

Lauren is a development sociologist. Her research primarily targets marginalised and excluded groups, including unemployed youth, people with disabilities, and vulnerable workers. While she is dedicated to advancing theoretical research in social development, she also uses evidence to create innovative policy and programmatic solutions to improve social development outcomes for excluded groups. She is a Professor at the University of Johannesburg and is the former Director of the Centre for Social Development in Africa, a research centre focused on applied social development research. She holds a C2 rating from the National Research Foundation and serves as the Branch Chair for the International Consortium (ICSD) for Social Development’s Africa Branch. She also serves as the Vice President: Special Projects for the ICSD. Key projects: The Basic Package of Support for NEET youth The gig economy and implications for social policy Generating Better Livelihoods Communities and the Private Renewable Energy Sector: Distributing Social Development Benefits in South Africa