Mastering public engagement for effective policymaking

Speakers

• Dr. Don Lenihan

  President and CEO of Middle Ground Policy Research

  Canada

• Dr Melissa Bennett

  Principal Community Engagement Officer (Acting) at the Greater London Authority

  United Kingdom

• Harshitha Rajashekara

  Technology Project Manager at SAWater

  Australia

• Dr. Don Lenihan, President and CEO of Middle Ground Policy Research (https://middlegroundengagement.ca) and Senior Associate at the Institute on Governance. He is an internationally recognised expert on public engagement, governance, policy development and organisational change. Don has over 30 years’ experience as a project leader, researcher, writer, speaker, senior government advisor, trainer and facilitator. Throughout his career, he has developed and led many research and consultation projects involving senior public servants, academics, elected officials, journalists and members of the private and third sectors from across the country. He is the author of numerous articles, studies and books. He earned his PhD in political theory from the University of Ottawa and is bilingual (English/French).

• Dr Melissa Bennett, Principal Community Engagement Officer (Acting) at the Greater London Authority, leads the Mayor’s Engaging Londoners programme. The programme ensures that communities that have historically faced barriers to participation, and those who are disproportionately affected by structural inequalities, have the opportunity to share their lived experience with London’s decision-makers to inform and shape policies and programmes that impact them. Melissa is particularly interested in how policy and decision makers could expand the types of insights they use and make more use of creative insights that are generated by communities. She has a PhD in History from the University of Warwick and has travelled the UK, USA and Caribbean to carry out and share her research.

• Harshitha Rajashekara, Electrical and Electronics Engineer with an MBA, currently employed as a Technology Project Manager at SAWater in Australia. Her work encompasses projects related to water operations control, security, and tacit knowledge. As the chair of GovHack, Australia's largest data-driven hackathon, she provides a platform for the community to solve problems using data, emphasizing the power of community-driven problem-solving. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Harshitha played a crucial role in a state government project aimed at tracking visitors across the state. She firmly believes that complex transformations within a country can be achieved through policy changes, emphasizing the need to evolve and not be bound by outdated rules. Harshitha is also actively involved in the Australian Transformation and Turn Around Agency (AusTTA), serving as both the Victoria and South Australian Chapter President. Her impressive career trajectory and commitment to positive change highlight her as a notable figure in the fields of technology and transformation in Australia.