Lauren Curatolo

Lauren Curatolo is the project director of Midtown Community Court where she leads an interdisciplinary team of staff members who assess and link individuals charged with crimes with critical social services. In her role, Lauren oversees community engagement and early diversion projects, collaborates with government and community stakeholders to promote principles of procedural justice, and monitors client participation and compliance with on-site programming. Prior to joining the Center for Court Innovation, Lauren was a public defender at The Legal Aid Society in Queens where she represented indigent clients on cases ranging from misdemeanors to violent felonies. Lauren was an O’Brien Human Rights Fellow in Residence at McGill School of Law where she designed and led trial advocacy workshops, lectured classes, mentored law students, and researched and wrote about the symbiosis between storytelling and advocacy work. Lauren holds a Juris Doctorate from the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law and a B.A. in Women’s and Gender Studies from Middlebury College in Vermont.