Lauren Christopher
Director, Division of Energy Assistance (DEA)
Lauren Christopher is the Director of the Division of Energy Assistance (DEA) which administers the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Leveraging Incentive Program and the Residential Energy Assistance Challenge Program (REACH) at the federal level. Previously, she served as the Energy Program Operations Branch Chief in the Division of Energy Assistance for three years starting in 2010. In that capacity, she oversaw the review of grantees’ annual LIHEAP Plans for funding, investigations into consumer complaints, the provision of training and technical assistance to grantees, and grantee compliance reviews.
Ms. Christopher has a public service career spanning more than 10 years with positions at both the federal and local government levels. She served as a LIHEAP program analyst for performance measurement and policy activities. She also has prior experience with several other federal programs, including the Child Support Enforcement Program and the U.S.-Mexico Border Program, which is administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Ms. Christopher is an attorney, licensed in Maryland. She received her Juris Doctor from The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, and her Master of Public Policy and Bachelor of Arts in political science from American University in Washington, D.C.