in 2011, the united nations elected lawrence to serve as the inaugural co-chair of its committee of experts on global geospatial information management (un-ggim). she served in this role continuously for four years working with others to develop un-ggim to be the lead global authority for governments and the private sector in geographic information. on leaving un-ggim after four years, she was awarded a certificate of appreciation by the under-secretary-general, dr wu hongbo the text of the certificate read as follows: