Biography

For nearly 30 years, Lorrie King has traversed applied, academic, and philanthropic settings across the realms of community development and humanitarian response, concentrating her study and expertise in the realms of decolonization, gender equity, refugee resettlement, and HIV/AIDS in post-genocide settings.

Before her post with Emory University, Lorrie served with United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), stewarding a $12M compendium of grant-funded initiatives, spanning 22 countries and 15 Native American nations; encompassing issues of water equity, restorative justice, food sovereignty, and community suicide prevention.

Preceding her tenure with UMCOR, Lorrie was best known as the founder of 50 Cents. Period, an organization housing CDC-acclaimed programs of reproductive health, social support, and menstrual hygiene management. Whilst contracting with CARE International, the HIV/AIDS case management training program she designed for use in post-genocide Rwanda, was chosen as the national training standard, by the Rwandan Ministry of Health.

In tandem with the former DeKalb County Center for Torture and Trauma Survivors, she established Just Cause, Inc., a coalition serving newly arrived refugees, by providing stopgap and specialized case management services to HIV+ survivors of rape, warfare, and genocide. For six years, she was the acting Health and Human Rights Program Coordinator for the Metropolitan Atlanta American Red Cross, overseeing genocide education and delivering emergency communications to war and Holocaust survivors.

Lorrie studied at Oglethorpe University, receiving a bachelor’s degree in International Development; and holds post-graduate certificates in Health & Human Rights, Health in Prisons, and Social Epidemiology, from Harvard University School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health respectively. She received her Master of Public Health from the University of Liverpool, Liverpool, England.

In 2014, Lorrie was recognized as one of CNN’s Top 10 Inspiring Women (named as “The Stigma Stopper”), and received a resolution of honor from the Georgia State House of Representatives, for her commitment to gender justice and community service. She was appointed by WASH United as the inaugural US Ambassador for the debut of global Menstrual Hygiene Day. In 2012, she received a Rotary International “Peace through Service” award from the Rotary Club of Stone Mountain, GA.

In her spare time, she is a voracious reader, loud laugher, and doer of New York Times crossword puzzles. She lives in Decatur, GA, with her spouse, son, and menagerie of pets.