Social Injustices within the Legal System Reveal Life's Purpose, Passion, and Plan: Meet Lauren Deutsch, E.D. of Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center
Lauren Deutsch is the Executive Director of the Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Smith College in 2001 and worked in migrant community health in San Diego before law school. She graduated with her Juris Doctor from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2008 and began her legal career in New York City as a Postgraduate Domestic Violence Fellow, before joining the Domestic Violence Unit at The Legal Aid Society of Rochester in 2010.
She became the Executive Director of a Rochester area reproductive justice organization in 2014 and then the Executive Director of a New York statewide non-profit legal services and advocacy organization dedicated to labor justice for migrant farm workers in 2018. Lauren’s research interests include racial inequities in legal outcomes, effective social services access for people living with trauma, bruising injuries in victims of color, and the impact of poverty on health equity. Lauren is thrilled to have joined CREEC in 2022, and to be working in Disability Justice to build a powerful and inclusive future.
What is your personal/professional story?
I was born in Berkeley California to a long line of attorneys. I attended law school with the goal of working in poverty law, and have been honored to be a civil legal services attorney serving survivors of domestic violence. Working with survivors, I became interested in the structural issues that prevent them from seeking help and finding safety. This led me to transition from direct legal services to an Executive Director role in a reproductive justice organization, focusing on structural racism in medical care. I have since worked in labor justice, with a focus on human trafficking and labor exploitation of undocumented workers, and now work in disability justice.
What key moments in your life led you to where you are today?
When I was a young attorney, I had a dark-skinned client with a reddish scar on the side of her head, from where she had been punched by her intimate partner. When I tried to admit the injury into evidence, the older, white judge told me she couldn’t see the injury, and told me to move on. I remember thinking to myself “That’s not the first time this has happened.” I created and obtained funding for a research project on bruising injuries in victims of color, and how cross-racial perceptions of injury and pain affect legal outcomes. This was a turning point for me and led me to transition from direct legal services into systems change work, which is where I am today.
Another turning point for me was the pandemic. I was working in labor justice, and trying to parent three young children, who were all home due to school/daycare closures. It was an impossible task, and I realized that I wasn’t performing any of my roles effectively as a result, and my mental health was suffering. I knew I needed to walk away, but also realized that my identity had become deeply entwined in my professional life. Who would I even be, if I wasn’t running a social justice nonprofit? I had believed that my purpose on earth – my value – came from my job, and the idea of walking away was terrifying. It took a huge leap of faith to walk away, and almost two years before I felt like myself again. I had to unlearn the idea that my value came from my job, no matter how much that job reflected my values. I spent the time with my kids, and when I felt ready to work again, I approached it in a new way. I no longer derive my identity from my job, though I still find it meaningful.
Where does your passion to serve come from?
I think service is the purpose of being human. We are all here on earth together to help each other, and it nourishes us to be a part of this shared endeavor of creating a healthy human community. The more we connect with others and build each other up, the more joy we can be a part of. The longer I live, the more convinced I am that the service is the secret to a life well lived.
How can GlobalMindED help you reach your goals?
GlobalMindED brings together caring, equity-minded thought leaders from the professional world, with the next generation. Diversity is crucial to the future of our world, and GlobalMindED is an opportunity to get our message – that disability is diversity – in front of current and future leaders. At CREEC, we believe that disability justice is the key to an equitable future, where humans are not denigrated based on or limited by the bodies they live in. Recognizing and celebrating our differences, whether they are rooted in race, immigration status, LGBTQ+ identity, disability, age, or some other qualifier, helps us build the stronger collaborations we need to face a challenging future at a crucial time in human history. We believe GlobalMindED can be a thought leader in moving diversity forward at the highest levels, and we want to champion disability inclusion as a crucial and necessary part of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
