Lauren Khair is a Sr. Director of Energy Research & Resilience in the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) Business and Technology Strategies department. At NRECA, she currently leads NRECA Research and the Department of Defense engagement. Lauren manages research projects totaling over $500 million, primarily focused on deployment projects and military energy. A native of Northern Virginia, Lauren earned her B.A. from James Madison University and a Master’s in Public Policy from George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government. Prior to NRECA, she worked for the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA), where she developed and led the quality assurance process for the three major electricity surveys.