Rethinking Public Engagement Summit Speakers

Chris Adams is president of Balancing Act, a provider of public engagement software. Chris has worked in public policy and facilitation for more than 25 years, focusing on health and healthcare, but he has also supported policy development in education and natural resources.

Lunda Asmani is the Chief Financial Officer at Norwalk Public Schools, Connecticut. As Chief Financial Officer, Lunda is responsible for the development, implementation, supervision, assessment and effectiveness of all financial and business operations. The CFO oversees the long-range planning, budgeting and fund accounting for the City of Norwalk Public School System $400 million operating, grant and capital budget.

Sarah is the Head of Research and Engagement at the Center for New Democratic Processes. Sarah draws on over 15 years of experience as a facilitator, scholar, and public historian to oversee the design and implementation of our engagement work as well as our organizational research activities. Sarah has consulted with clients such as Pfizer, Inc., The New York Times, the National Health Service (NHS England), and the Kettering Foundation (Ohio).

Daniel Bevarly, is the founder and principal for New Democracy Partners, a consultancy to advance democracy reforms. He is the former executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition, an association of state open government and transparency organizations.

Kyle Bozentko brings over 15 years of political campaign, public policy, and deliberative engagement experience to his role as Executive Director of the Center for New Democratic Processes. Kyle has contributed directly to the design, implementation, and evaluation of over 45 multi-day deliberative engagement projects (citizens’ jury, citizens’ assembly, and other deliberative mini-publics) with partners in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and France. He has over 2,000 hours of deliberative engagement facilitation experience with groups ranging from a dozen to 250+ participants.

Tom Bryer's research focuses on citizen participation and collaborative governance, ultimately asking: how can we design institutions to enable stronger, more civically healthy communities? He has worked at the University of Central Florida since 2007, after completing his PhD from the University of Southern California.

Martín Carcasson, Ph.D., is a professor in the Communication Studies department of Colorado State University, and the founder and director of the CSU Center for Public Deliberation (CPD). His interests are focused on rhetoric and contemporary public affairs, and the interdisciplinary theory and practice of deliberative democracy and collaborative governance.

Claudia Chwalisz is an author, activist, and entrepreneur working to shift political and legislative power to everyday people. She is the Founder and CEO of DemocracyNext, an international non-profit, non-partisan research and action institute.

Giulia Cibrario is an international consultant at Open Source Politics, a French based company which helps local communities, national governments and supranational institutions to design and implement meaningful participatory processes with the help of the fully open-source digital platform Decidim. 

Dr. Alexandra Estrella joined Norwalk Public Schools on July 1, 2020 as Superintendent of Schools. A first-generation Latina-American, Dr. Estrella is a visionary, innovative, forward-thinking leader who does not accept the status quo on scholar development and learning opportunities.

Patti Garrett was elected to the Decatur City Commission in 2009 and has served as Mayor since 2016. She was recently elected to serve on the Board of the Atlanta Regional Commission, representing the mayors of DeKalb County; at ARC, she serves as a member of the Local Leadership Housing Action Committee and on the Community Resources Committee. 

Eric Gordon is a professor at Emerson College, director of the Engagement Laband Assistant Dean of Civic Partnerships in the School of the Arts. He is also a research affiliate in Comparative Media Studies at MIT. His current research focuses on how new technology and media impact the way people trust institutions.

Tomás Guarna is a Ph.D. student at Stanford University, where he is a Knight-Hennessy Scholar. He has a S.M. in Comparative Media Studies from MIT, and is a research affiliate there. His research focuses on citizenship, trust, and legitimacy in the digital public sphere.

Bryna Helfer is Assistant County Manager and Director of Communications and Public Engagement.  In this role, she has been instrumental in advancing innovative communications and equitable public engagement practices across Arlington County government. 

Nicole's over twenty years of experience and passion for community development and civic engagement began while interning with the White House's Council on Environmental Quality and the United Nations Development Programme. She oversaw the Equal Rights Center's civil rights advocacy program and coordinated investigations exposing systemic housing discrimination.

Cameron Hickey is the Project Director for Algorithmic Transparency at the National Conference on Citizenship. He leads an effort to develop methodologies and tools for collecting and analyzing data to increase transparency about how large digital platforms impact society.

Assistant to the County Manager in Durham, North Carolina for eight years, Dionne manages special projects in the County Manager’s office and is currently leading an organization-wide initiative to develop a communication and engagement strategy for Durham County Government.

Liz Joyner, a clinical social worker with training in family systems theory, conceptualized The Village Square—what former NEH Chair Jim Leach has since called “a model for the land”—after her experience volunteering in politics convinced her that the way we work out our disagreements in today’s public square is fundamentally flawed.

Lauren Kirk currently serves as the Chief Innovation Officer for the City of Jackson. In this role, she is responsible for managing the community development team and various initiatives to improve the quality of life for all Jackonians. Prior to working with the City of Jackson, Lauren worked in the nonprofit sector in Memphis, serving with Historic Clayborn Temple, BLDG (Building) Memphis, and City Leadership.

Matt Leighninger is the Head of Democracy Innovation at the National Conference on Citizenship, a Congressionally chartered nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening civic life in America. Matt leads NCoC’s work in strengthening civic infrastructure, organizing large-scale engagement efforts, and measuring the quality of democracy and engagement. He and Tina Nabatchi are the authors of Public Participation for 21st Century Democracy.

An adept strategic thinker with more than 35 years of experience in solving public problems and controversial issues in governmental organizations and local communities, Lemmie joined the foundation in 2014 after a distinguished career in public service.

Doug Linkhart has served as President of the National Civic League since December 2015. Prior to his work at the National Civic League, Doug served in elective office for 18 years, including as a Denver City Councilman and Colorado State Representative and Senator. Doug also served for four years as the Executive Director of Denver’s Department of Public Health and Environment.

Christian Lopez is a proud fourth generation El Pasoan who began his public service career with the City of El Paso as he was pursuing, and has now obtained, his Masters of Public Administration degree with an emphasis in Public Policy & Management at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).

Joel Berenguer Moncada is an international consultant at Open Source Politics, a French based company which helps local communities, national governments and supranational institutions to design and implement meaningful participatory processes with the help of the fully open-source digital platform Decidim. 

Jennifer Park is the Executive Director of the Opportunity Accelerator at Results for America. The Opportunity Accelerator partners with government to promote economic mobility and reduce racial disparities, ultimately strengthening the wellbeing of individuals and fostering thriving communities. Since 2015, Jenn developed and led signature programs supporting local government in leveraging data and evidence to accelerate outcomes for residents.

Nikola Pavelić is a Senior Advisor at the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University. Nikola has a decade of experience leading and strengthening civic engagement practices in local government. He has a consistent record of managing programs, peer-learning networks, improving systems and processes, and aligning teams to inclusive and equitable practices.

Matt Prewitt is President of RadicalxChange Foundation. He is a lawyer, writer, and technologist focused on institutional innovation, democracy, and power sharing.

John is dedicated to using digital technology to advance participatory democracy. He is the founder and CEO of Ethelo, a certified B-Corp and provider of eDemocracy services to governments and organizations around the world. Ethelo has won numerous awards and has been recognized as the world's leading digital democracy platform since 2020.

Graham Stone is Vice President of Government Relationships and Co-Founder at PublicInput. In his role, he focuses on the ever-evolving challenges of benchmarking representation in engagement, and building trust in local governments of all sizes. 

Dr. Costis Toregas is the director of the Cyber Security and Privacy Research Institute at The George Washington University, where he manages and conducts education, research and service projects in cybersecurity and privacy.

Tina oversees efforts to grow USDR's impact with government partners. She joined USDR after serving as Chief Innovation Officer for the City of Seattle for six years. Earlier in her career, she worked as a Mayor's Office policy advisor in the Bloomberg administration as well as a management consultant to public sector organizations.

Scott Warren is a visiting fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University, and a visiting fellow at the German Marshall Fund (GMF). He is currently organizing a global network of youth activists and scholars focused on promoting democracy, called Democracy Moves, working with GMF on their Fortifying Democracy initiative to investigate how cities can promote civic participation and democratic engagement, and helping Johns Hopkins University in exploring its own role as a beacon of civic engagement and democracy.

Jeff Weckbach is Township Administrator at Colerain Township, OH, where he also served as assistant administrator. Prior to that he was a senior policy manager and budget analyst for Hamilton County, OH. He holds an MPA from Northern Illinois University, as well as a BA and BS from Northern Kentucky University.

Communications and Marketing Director Angelica Wedell has worked in multimedia communications for over ten years and is an Online Marketing Certified Professional (OMCP). She enjoys leading the communications efforts and strategies of Polco / National Research Center, networking and speaking professionally at conferences across the country, and writing articles for Polco and partner syndicates.

Mark Welch is head of Solution Architecture for OpenGov Inc. and previously in government finance and administration for seven city and county governments, with leadership roles in four cities, including Ashland, OR, where he launched the first fully-digital, award-winning online budget book.

Wendy Willis is the Executive Director of Kitchen Table Democracy and Director of Civic Engagement for the National Policy Consensus Center at Portland State University, which houses Oregon's Kitchen Table. Wendy is a national leader in the field of civic engagement and citizen-centered decision-making.