Founder of:
My name is Lauren Ell. Here is some information about me..
- Born and raised in Southern California
- Studied Marketing at California State University, Northridge and Geology at Humboldt State University
- Works as an Online Marketing Consultant and Virtual Assistant
- Living in Sweden for over two years
- Diagnosed with Epilepsy at 25, seizures began at 21
- Registered Republican
- Atheist for over a decade with appreciation for moderate Christian upbringing
- President and founder of nationally and internationally recognized organization Republican Atheists
- President and founder of Nordic Republicans, Americans Sweden, GunSafetySociety.org, Atheists United for Israel, Atheists We Are, Atheists Moms
- Rotary International Youth Exchange alumni
- Speaks Swedish
- Has traveled to Mexico, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, UK, Czech Republic, Thailand
Lauren Ell was born in Loma Linda, CA on December 4, 1987. She lived the majority of her childhood in Desert Hot Springs, CA, with her parents and two younger siblings. Her father worked as a Kirby salesman and mother worked for the telephone company GTE for nearly 20 years. Ell was recognized for her scholastic achievements during her entire student career and graduated from Desert Hot Springs High School in 2006 with a 4.0 GPA and awards in science and graphic design.
Religion was not a cornerstone of Ell’s home. Ell was raised as a moderate Christian, and did not read the Bible or pray regularly. Her mother took Ell and her siblings to various Christian churches a number of times throughout her childhood, from hole-in-the-wall churches to mega churches, while her dad stayed home. Although remaining a believer, Ell’s mother eventually stopped going to church altogether. Ell decided to continue going to church in middle school after her friends invited her to attend youth services. She attended youth services all the way to her senior year of high school, traveled to Mexico on a mission trip with her church and regularly attended Christian music festivals and concerts. At 18 years old Ell became atheist, but maintained appreciation for Christianity and the people she was associated with.
Outside of school and church, Ell enjoyed volunteering at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, attending concerts and publishing a Christian magazine known as Living But Dead Magazine. She also attended events hosted by Swedish-American organizations that her mother was involved with, and attended Swedish language camp in Minnesota for four summers where she learned to speak Swedish and was introduced to the idea of foreign exchange.
In 2006, Ell embarked on a ten month journey of living in Sweden as a foreign exchange student through Rotary International Youth Exchange. She lived with two Swedish host families in the town of Älmhult, Sweden, where IKEA’s headquarters are located. She attended a final year of high school for fun, met Swedes of all ages, as well as foreign exchange students from all over the world. Within months of being abroad Ell acknowledged Sweden was not as exciting as she assumed it would be and became homesick, but finished her entire planned trip. She returned to the US with appreciation for her home country and thought she would never return to Sweden again.
From 2007 to 2010 Ell attended College of the Desert in Palm Desert, CA where she studied Business Management. She transferred to California State University Northridge in Northridge, CA in 2010 where she studied Marketing. Within three semesters she became disenfranchised with the Marketing program and decided to change her major to Geology, which she later regretted doing. She transferred to Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA as a Geology major. Within a year new California budget policy led to one of her main financial grants being cut, motivating her to meet with the Geology department’s Chair to investigate career opportunities in Geology in order to determine if taking out student loans was worth it. After learning how difficult it would be to pursue work in Geology, Ell left Humboldt State and returned to live with her parents in Southern California to continue pursuing education, but ultimately dropped out completely after finding classes were full and it would take years to obtain a degree.
At 21 years old in 2010 Ell began having seizures and was eventually diagnosed with Epilepsy at 24 years old. Having Epilepsy was a life changing event in her life as it was her first time experiencing physical limitations. Thankfully with the help of epileptic medicine, her seizures stopped and life continued as normal, though she began experiencing anxiety due to fear of having a seizure. She has been seizure-free since 2015.
In 2014, Ell moved to Joshua Tree, CA, a destination she had dreamed of living in for over a decade. While there she worked part time as an online marketing consultant, and also part time as a social media director for a branding company in Palm Desert, CA. Additionally she managed a blog called Lauren Ell of the Hi Desert where she covered local community news relating to Joshua Tree National Park, social events and environmental concerns.
In 2015, she became more acquainted with a Swedish man she had met online years before. In 2016 she relocated to Sweden to live with him. They now have two children. Ell has worked as a substitute teacher at the local elementary school where she speaks Swedish and English with the students.
Ell launched the organization Republican Atheists in February 2017 with the goal of developing public awareness of atheist Republicans. Dr. Robert Price immediately joined as a board member, and the organization has since gained popularity and has representation in over 20 states.