I cherish gathering with humans to dream, question, and forge new paths together. I’m a skilled moderator and engaging speaker on topics including:
Identifying and challenging biases—particularly, Western, neocolonial, and patriarchal—within social change efforts
Decolonizing practices, especially in global development
Reimagining democracy and “civic engagement'“
Harnessing the magic of different actors—movements and institutions, healers and economists, artists and academics— in social transformation
Building and co-creating via the unlikely yet transformative coalitions of our dreams
I’ve traveled a meandering path across diverse spaces, and I view issues through a global lens. As such, I also get brought in as a contrarian keynote or provocateur moderator. As a speaker, I provide sincere reflections and honest critiques, always grounded in lived experience. As a moderator, I prepare my guests thoroughly and don’t shy away from the hard questions—guests often thank me after for challenging them with integrity and grace.
RECENT HIGHLIGHTS
Some recent talks, conversations, and workshops include:
“Exiting the Road to Hell: How We Reclaim Agency & Responsibility in Our Fights for Justice”
EPIC 2021 (Global) - Oct 2021
I am giving a keynote on the pernicious biases embedded in ethnography, and how they help sustain white supremacy, Western imperialism, and structural injustice. I explore how to interrupt these frames, and how to mediate between different versions of truth to future that celebrate the dignity and joy of all.“Do It Responsibly or Don’t Do It At All”
Co-Designing Publics (Wales) - Sept 2021
I gave a talk on how to navigate politics and ethics when radically different stakeholders (with different amounts of power) come together to solve problems as part of global symposium Co-Designing Publics: [Re]Producing the Public Realm via Informal Urbanisms in Cities of the Global South.“In Joyous Solidarity”
Design Campus (Germany) - Aug 2021
I gave a talk for a six-week summer school called “Design & Democracy: Renegotiating Plurality, Power and People“. (Video)“Driving Strategy & Impact in Times of Upheaval”
Smart Cities Lab (US) - Jul 2021
I led a workshop on how we process ongoing collective grief, how we set strategy when so much is unpredictable, and how we evolve our understanding of “impact” to incorporate deeper lessons on power and privilege, equity, and justice.“Democratic Revolution from the Bottom Up”
Public Libraries 2030 (EU) - Jun 2021
I gave a talk to head librarians across Europe on the critical role of civic imagination and community organizing in advancing justice, and how libraries can play a pivotal role in democratic renewal.“Wise Societies: A Call for Wisdom in a Post Pandemic World”
Demos Helsinki (Finland) - May 2021
I was part of a panel on how we cultivate wisdom in building a better world, with Geoff Mulgan, Sylvie Barbier, and Sampo Hietanen. I focused on how we interrogate the biases in how we traditionally understand “wisdom”. (Video)“Scaling Deep Democracy”
Building Belonging (US) - Apr 2021
I participated in a discussion on how we cultivate belonging and practice deep democracy at every scale, and what the role of tech might be in doing so, with Audrey Tang and Ceasar McDowell. (Video)“Accountability > Empathy”
Ecological Design Collective (US) - Apr 2021
I gave a talk on empathy as a red herring in civic and social design work, and how we move from individual kindness to structural justice our work. (Video)“Building Imagination Infrastructure”
From What If to What Next (UK) - Mar 2021
Rob Hopkins interviewed the brilliant Cassie Robinson and I on: What If we created the best infrastructure possible for the public imagination? (Podcast)“Democracia En Vivo”
Congreso Futuro (Chile) - Jan 2021
I gave a talk on how to realize active democracy as daily practice, building on Chile’s incredible mutual aid efforts and recent constitutional referendum. (Video)“Shifting Institutions & Building Trust”
Future of Good Summit (Canada) - Nov 2020
I participated in a conversation on how to shift institutional mindsets and norms to renew trust between institutions and the communities they serve, with Bianca Wylie.“Active Democracy in Times of Emergency”
RSA (UK) - Oct 2020
I participated in a panel on novel democratic approaches to tackle acute and existential social and political challenges, with Claudia Chwalisz and Graham Smith. (Video)“Co-Creating Active & Just Democracies: A How To”
Creative Bureaucracy (Germany) - Sept 2020
I gave a talk on how traditional democracy has not delivered on its promises, and on how can we reengage and empower citizens to co-create the world we deserve. (Video)“A Pursuit of Active Democracy & Radical Kindness”
Creative Bureaucracy (Germany) - Sept 2020
I gave an interview on both my own journey and how we must meaningfully centre historically oppressed communities in our work for just futures. (Video)“Reimagining Our Role in the Fight for Tomorrow”
Untitled Festival (Finland) - Sept 2020
I hosted a workshop on how those with power should reckon with their privileges (and the structures that sustain them), and to address their complicity in sustaining a broken world.“A Whole of Society Approach to Building Just Futures”
Innovation in Public Sector Governance Conference (Philippines) - Sept 2020
I gave a talk on rejecting neocolonial approaches to development, and taking a whole of society approach to imagining and building our post-COVID futures.“Hard Truths: Privilege and Belonging”
Future of Good (Canada) - Aug 2020
I participated in a panel on privilege in the social impact world and addressing individual complicity in sustaining injustice, with Waubgeshig Rice, Rachel Zellars, Jes Tomlin.“Post Empathy”
Department of Dreams (UK) - Jun 2020
I gave a talk on how trying to cultivate empathy in “powerful” institutions can rob us of our agency or even recolonize ourselves, then had a discussion with Immy Kaur. (Video)“Culture Change: Public Imagination vs Bureaucratic Creativity”
States of Change Festival (Global) - Jun 2020
I gave a talk and participated in a panel on the mechanisms and cultural spaces we need to to reimagine society, with Charles Landry and Gabriella Gomez-Mont. (Video)“The Cold Hard Truths of Privilege”
States of Change Festival (Global) - Jun 2020
I co-hosted a conversation on who’s in the room when we “imagine” new futures and the work we must do to create futures that are just and equitable, with Aarathi Krishnan. (Video)“Driving Transformative Collaboration: A Masterclass”
Reboot (Global) - Apr 2020
I co-designed and co-delivered a three-part series on how to build strong coalitions—including with historical opponents—to tackle complex challenges. (Videos & Resources)“Rewriting the Social Contract in the Time of COVID”
States of Change: How Not to Waste a Crisis Series (Global) - Apr 2020
I gave a talk and participated in a panel on how COVID sparked new forms of civic innovation and what governments can learn, with Penny Hagen, Angie Tangaere, Louise Pulford.“Operationalizing Thinking & Working Politically in International Development”
Thinking & Working Politically Summit (USA) - Dec 2019
I hosted a panel on the promises and hypocrisies of political economy analysis in democracy, human rights, and governance work, with James Anderson, Don Chisholm, Sharon Van Pelt.“Culture Hacking for Open Government”
Open Government Summit (Canada) - May 2019
I hosted a session on how to use art and cultural practices to advance participatory, accountable governance, with Sarah Corbett, Mel Flanagan, Amahl Hazelton, Richard Pietro.“Power to the People”
TiCTEC, or The Impacts of Civic Technology Conference (France) - Mar 2019
I gave a talk comparing the promise of civic tech, and the actual reality—including unintended consequences—featuring observations from the participatory budgeting movement. (Video)