SALEM, OR, October 21, 2026 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Lauren Russell has been recognized for her contributions to child abuse awareness and prevention and domestic violence advocacy.

Ms. Russell has established herself as a dedicated voice in child abuse awareness and prevention and domestic violence advocacy, bringing together professional experience, public engagement and lived experience to advance child protection. In 2026, she founded Clarity Works Consulting & Advocacy after more than a decade of professional experience and leadership roles, creating a platform through which she works to strengthen public understanding and promote meaningful change within child protection systems. Her advocacy has also included public speaking at fundraising events for child advocacy centers, where her efforts have helped generate significant support, including raising more than $800,000 in a single evening.

Her advocacy extends across media, legislative and community spaces. She provides media interviews on child abuse and advocacy issues, meets with and advocates before state legislators, and conducts research and fact-checking on pending legislation. Through her writing and public communications, including her Substack platform, she works to bring greater awareness to issues affecting children and families. She also collaborates with child advocacy centers on fundraising and awareness strategies and draws on an extensive network of attorneys and other professionals to inform her advocacy and research.

A defining moment in Ms. Russell's career came when she uncovered through a public records request that a district attorney had systematically removed mandatory minimum sentencing provisions from cases involving child victims under 12 by altering the charged victim's age on secondary counts. This pattern affected all 72 such cases that were handled during the district attorney's eight-year tenure.

In response, Ms. Russell prepared a factual, fully documented letter outlining her findings and sent it to nearly every member of the United States Senate and House of Representatives. The letter was subsequently read on the House floor. Her advocacy surrounding the matter drew national attention, and the district attorney later ended his candidacy for United States Attorney General and departed from prosecutorial work. Her efforts have also received media recognition, including coverage by Oregon Public Broadcasting and participation in national child abuse awareness campaigns.

Prior to founding Clarity Works Consulting & Advocacy, Ms. Russell served as an executive assistant to the chief executive officer at Lake Health District Hospital in Oregon. For several years, she supported executive operations during a critical period for the organization.

Alongside her primary roles, Ms. Russell has maintained active memberships with several industry-related organizations at local and state levels, including the Prison Advisory Council, the Community Safety Coalition and the Office of Rural Health. Across these roles, she has continued to pursue her goal of providing greater clarity and alignment between individuals, families and the systems intended to support them.

Ms. Russell began her educational journey after graduating from high school in Central Oregon, having already gained early work experience alongside her mother in her parents' excavation business office. At 18, encouraged by her father's belief that education was not simply for leisure but an investment in building a future, she attended business college in Portland. As the youngest student in her program by nearly a decade, she earned her business degree in 2005.

Ms. Russell's path into advocacy was shaped by a deeply personal experience when her child, then a fourth-grade student, disclosed abuse after participating in a school-based prevention program implemented under Oregon's Erin's Law. The disclosure prompted the teacher to follow mandatory reporting protocols, setting in motion the intervention that protected her child from further harm. Having had no prior experience with the legal system or the legislative processes surrounding child protection, Ms. Russell committed herself to understanding both. Over the next decade, she immersed herself in the systems, laws and policies affecting children and families, transforming a personal experience into a broader commitment to helping others navigate and strengthen those systems.

In addition to her professional work, Ms. Russell has dedicated significant time to supporting child advocacy centers throughout Oregon, volunteering as an advocate and participating in fundraising and awareness events. Her commitment to this work has included helping raise critical funds for these organizations, and she was honored with the Top Fundraising Table award at the annual Healing Hearts luncheon.

As a balance to her advocacy responsibilities, Ms. Russell enjoys spending time outdoors—paddleboarding, hiking, rockhounding for crystals and stones, and spending time by the ocean. For her, some of the most meaningful moments are found in exploring, adventuring and making memories with her children and dogs.

While her own career has been marked by many milestones, Ms. Russell considers her greatest accomplishments to be her children. Her oldest daughter graduated from high school with an honors diploma in 2025 after completing a year of college coursework early. She is now attending nursing school at Arizona State University while working night shifts at a hospital. Her two younger children are currently in school and working toward their own goals and dreams.

Looking ahead, Ms. Russell intends to expand her advocacy work by deepening her involvement with policymakers and creating more opportunities to share firsthand experiences with those who shape public policy. She is committed to bringing lived experience into conversations about systemic change in child protection and domestic violence, with the goal of helping strengthen the systems designed to protect and support children and families.

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