Meet

the team

Deliberative engagement requires creativity, tenacity and being purpose driven.

Our team is flexible, adaptable and can support you with every aspect of your project. We have the complete suite of skills – expertise in politics, facilitation design, communications  and data analysis all delivered with warmth and compassion. We build trust and confidence in our clients and the process.

Emma

Fletcher

Emma is an extraordinary strategic thinker and planner, and has a unique ability to design and project manage large and complex engagement projects with a seeming unending library of ideas and approaches at her disposal. Emma is the driving force behind democracyCo’s reputation for quality engagement – using her love for politics, planning and project management to great effect to deliver real outcomes for clients and their communities.  

I had the pleasure of working with Emma and Emily and I found them (the two Em's!) to be passionate, empathetic, organised and experienced, dynamic and flexible - with a deep personal commitment to giving people the opportunity to provide input into Government policy and decision making.
Senior Advisor in the Office of the Minister for Sustainability, Conservation and the Environment, SA 2016
Emily

Jenke

Great facilitators make people feel at ease, and help them to navigate through tricky or complex times – this is Emily’s great skill. Her success is due to her deep awareness of the needs of participants (and how groups work), coupled with what the client needs, to design highly effective and innovative engagement experiences and methodologies. With almost 25 years of experience Emily, is one of Australia’s most effective and experienced deliberative facilitators.

I am really not sure what we would have done without you! I really appreciated Emily's guidance and was so glad she was physically with us. Her presence is very calming, as you sense she is in total control of the situation and knows how to handle anything that the forum could throw at her but is also very relaxed and very rarely appears worried or frazzled. This was the perfect anecdote to some of my worries and stresses!
Client, Humanitarian Dialogue, Bosnia & Herzegovina 2022
Dan

Popping

Giving everyday people agency is without a doubt Dan’s super-power. His success draws on significant experience in the design, planning and delivery of uncountable engagement strategies across a wide range of subject areas and with various stakeholders. Previously working across state & local government, private, not-for-profit, energy and environmental sectors, Dan has a unique ability to deliver win-win scenarios for complex societal issues and polarising issues.

"Dan has an approach and professionalism that upholds the highest forms of integrity. He is a collaborative thinker, he is instantaneous with his approach to tackling problems and gives significant thought and consideration to community engagement."
Director, Department of Social Services
Kerry

Reed

Kerry is a people person with an ability to warmly connect with people from the moment they meet her, ensuring that all her interactions benefit from her genuine personality. She has a broad range of experience in design, business, the not-for-profit sector and community engagement. 

“…you are the perfect person to be conducting such interviews on issues which no doubt raise distressing emotions for many of those you speak to. Your calm, patient manner, willingness to listen, and concise, accurate notes not only made me feel respected and heard, but also helped me to be able to construct my comments in clear and logical way.”
Participant, 2024
Chad

Foulkes

Chad Foulkes has worked in community engagement and been at the forefront of community engagement and deliberative practices for over a decade. He commissioned and designed the first two citizens’ juries in Victorian a Local Government which won an award from the IAP2. Chad is a loveable facilitator – who has an ability to get things done, while seemingly having an enormous amount of fun!  

Bella

Jenke

Bella is currently studying at the University of Adelaide and supports us with our participant liaison work – a critical part of what we do. Bella has a natural ability to connect with people from all walks of life, and her work ensures that when participants enter a room full of strangers they have a welcoming face and an existing connection.

DemocracyCo

Alliance

Our work requires a team that is diverse, multi-skilled and talented. 

Our alliance of partners across Australia enables us to bring together the optimal team for every project we do, no matter the size.  

It felt very much like DemocracyCo and HD were a team for this project, not two different organisations trying to do different things. Emily was willing to muck in with anything – to listen carefully to our needs and to think creatively with us when we got stuck. She also did a fantastic job guiding the facilitators, something we really couldn’t have done alone.

Maude Morrison
Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, Bosnian Citizens' Assembly 2022