- One word to describe yourself: Passionate
- Alma mater: Undergrad - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ("Go TarHeels!"); Masters - University of Oregon ("Go Ducks!")
- Favorite book: "Year of Yes" by Shonda Rhimes
- Favorite TV show: "Insecure" and "This is Us," "It gets me every week."
- Favorite movie: "Garden State" and "The Princess Bride"
- Favorite hobby(ies): Going to dance and yoga classes.
- Fun fact about yourself: "I am a fitness coach when I’m not doing marketing and outreach for TriMet. I’ve been teaching spin, barre, and TRX classes for six years."
- Favorite station or stop that you have ever visited or frequent (and why): "I really like the entries to the Metro in France. The old 1920s signage speaks to my love of vintage."
- Favorite route you have ever ridden or frequent (and why): "My favorite route is the Amtrak Cascades route from PDX to Seattle. It’s so beautiful to go around the bend and see Mt. Olympia and the Cascade mountains."
Working at the local state fair at the green sustainability tent in her first week of work was when Lauren Parker saw the impact that comes with transit and changed her “work” to her “career.”
Previously with GoTriangle, formerly Triangle Transit, in North Carolina, she managed a small team to create, direct and manage all of the marketing and social media communications for three separate brands: GoTriangle, GoDurham and the regional transportation demand management program.
Parker currently serves as TriMet’s manager of marketing and outreach services and is responsible for a number of high-profile externally facing channels and campaigns, including a $31 million pass sales program.
She was instrumental in launching the agency’s marketing campaign around the new Hop Fastpass electronic fare system, which won an American Public Transportation Association AdWheel award. They created innovative community-based outreach and fun opportunities to build the brand, including the Hopster mascots, the HopMobile, and attending community events.
She has also been invaluable in helping improve TriMet’s marketing efforts around recruitment, while advancing outreach efforts to vulnerable and underserved communities.
Parker is also playing a critical role in the development of the outreach and marketing efforts related to an upcoming low-income fare program that will reduce the cost of transit for individuals below 200 percent of the federal poverty line.
In 2017, Parker was awarded the Association of Commuter Transportation 40 under 40 award. She continues to grow her knowledge base graduated this summer with her MBA from the University of Oregon. Her work has been featured in a number of publications from local media to the Washington Post and her efforts led to winning back-to-back APTA Grand Prizes.
“[The most challenging part of the job is] when you’re in outreach and you have to share the bad news or go out for public comment, facing all of the needs of the community, knowing that you can’t address them all when they need them. It’s a delicate balance of need and available resources. Being the listening ear and making sure they feel heard, is key. In terms of marketing, the hard part is balancing traditional and new emerging marketing efforts. You want to make sure you reach the majority while also reaching people where they are most comfortable consuming information. You want to stay up on the trends but you also want to make sure that information isn’t missed.”
“I am most proud of the outreach work around Hop Fastpass. We were able to create some really innovative community-based outreach and some fun opportunities to build the brand. From the Hopster mascots to the HopMobile to attending a record number of community events. The whole goal was to build awareness and start transitioning people to this new fare system. Where we are a year later makes me really proud to hear people talk about Hop or tap their Hop card on the platform.”
“Stay informed and always keep your ear to the community. They will give you some of the best ideas and answers you weren’t even looking for.”
“I like serving the public and creating campaigns that help people learn a new behavior that leads to social change.”
