Lori became a gun violence prevention advocate in 1994 when the Ohio legislature first introduced a bill to allow the carrying of concealed handguns in public. She joined a state level gun violence prevention group, Gun Safety Ohio, which later evolved into the Cleveland chapter of the Million Mom March, the grassroots arm of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. She served as president of the Cleveland chapter of MMM for two years and as vice president for two years.
In 2006, Lori, her husband Bob, and another gun violence prevention advocate, created the Where did the gun come from? public education campaign to raise awareness of the role illegal gun trafficking plays in gun violence. The success of the campaign subsequently led to the launch of Citizens for Safety, a non-profit organization devoted to reducing the illegal trafficking of guns to prohibited persons.
Lori is co-owner, with her husband, Bob, of O’Neill Marketing Strategies, Inc., an award-winning, full-service marketing and branding firm based in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. She holds a B.S. in advertising from Boston University and has completed coursework in Intellectual Property Law at the University of Akron