Years before James Surowiecki wrote The Wisdom of Crowds, Nivek was committed to engaging people to understand their perspectives and improve outcomes.

Luckily all her work, whether in industrial relations, children’s rights, consumer protection, community development, regional development, workplace safety or road safety, has had engaging people front and centre. Nivek has engaged staff, stakeholders, businesses, and community members to support change and achieve well designed and effective programs.

Nivek is also a bit of a technology nerd and loves using technology to do things quicker, smarter and more effectively. And whilst she was initially sceptical about online engagement, since discovering Synthetron, a unique online platform from Europe which provides dynamic real-time engagement, Nivek is a convert.

Add to her interest in understanding how and why things work (and don’t work) – which lead Nivek to undertaking a PhD on the impact of democratic innovations (still underway) and her experience working with the newDemocracy Foundation – designing, recruiting and overseeing citizens’ jury processes and here she is – running her own company!