Lyn Carson (“Carson” to those who know her) is Research Director at The newDemocracy Foundation in Australia, where her work includes developing newDemocracy’s collection of R&D notes and a series of podcasts on deliberative democracy. She is also a Director (Board member) at newDemocracy.
There would be no Democracy R&D network without Carson. She came up with the idea for the network in 2014, convinced the newDemocracy Foundation’s board to back the idea, worked with David Schecter to co-found the network between 2016 and 2018, and has served as David’s mentor and advisor about Democracy R&D ever since.
Carson is a former professor in applied politics at the University of Sydney Business School, former professor with the University of Western Sydney, and former academic director of the United States Studies Centre.‘ She is a veteran facilitator of public deliberation and a former Local Councillor. She has written handbooks on community engagement and many articles and book chapters on public participation, including a book with Brian Martin, Random Selection in Politics (1999). She also co-edited The Australian Citizens’ Parliament & The Future of Deliberative Democracy (2013).