Founder
Joshua Oliver
(aka Red Jay)
Artistic Director / Civic Artist
RSA Fellow, BFI Fellow and British Council alumnus whose practice spans film, public art and civic participation, to connect socially engaged artistic interventions with credible democratic and policy impact
Participatory Democracy Team
Gillian Baxendine
Participatory Democracy Lead
Established and led the Participation Team at the Scottish Parliament in legislative engagement through digital and deliberative democracy, with a focus scaling inclusive participation and community-led policy development
Jack Davies
Participatory Democracy Advisor
Policy Advocacy Team
Fatima Alotaibi
Policy Advoacy Lead
Public policy and governance specialist with experience at the World Bank and UK government, leading multi-stakeholder policy dialogues, developing national performance frameworks and translating complex public input into credible advocacy and decision-ready policy briefs
Julia Bairstow
Policy Support Assistant
BSc Botany and Environmental Science and MA Governance, Development and Public Policy graduate, working at the intersection of climate action, environmental governance and public policy
Simon Stockwell
Citizen Agency Lead
Siwei Kang studied at the University of Washington and focuses on connecting real-world challenges with practical process and product design
Operations Team
Adrian Cheung
Operations Coordinator
Adrian graduated from The University of Edinburgh with MA Social Policy & Sociology and MSc International Relations. He is deeply passionate about community empowerment and reducing economic inequality, sharing his knowledge and expertise to a range of Scottish charities, including SOHTIS, Citizens' Advice, and Edinburgh Community Food
Miranda Romero
Operational Support
Miranda is a First-Class BSc (Hons) Software Development for Business graduate apprentice at Accenture, bringing technical problem-solving, application development and systems thinking to support organisational infrastructure and digital operations
Community User Experience Team
Siwei Kang
Civic Experience Designer
Siwei studied at the University of Washington and previously worked as a software engineer at Amazon and Skyscanner. She is focused on connecting real-world challenges with practical process and product design, bringing a problem-solving approach to shaping user experience that helps people move beyond polarised debate toward more constructive public dialogue and consensus-building
Adrian Swinscoe
Policy Support Assistant
BSc Botany and Environmental Science and MA Governance, Development and Public Policy graduate, working at the intersection of climate action, environmental governance and public policy.
Miranda Romero
Software Development Support
Miranda is a First-Class BSc (Hons) Software Development for Business graduate apprentice at Accenture, bringing technical problem-solving, application development and systems thinking to support organisational infrastructure and digital operations
Project Team Members
Zinat Papia
Environment Lead
Zinat in an Erasmus Scholar and Climate change risk analyst with experience across ICCCAD, Friendship NGO, UNFPA and sustainability consultancies, specialising in resilience, adaptation, life cycle assessment and policy-facing research for climate-vulnerable communities in the UK and internationally
Minnie Peacock
Project Coordinator Lead
Minnie is a University of Cambridge graduate in Sociology and Medical Sciences. She led programming and operations for the Magdalene May Ball 2025, and has experience across the creative sector in arts administration, event production and backstage theatre.
Communications Team
Ella Blackmore
Comms & Social Media
Ella is a First-Class Honours graduate in Media, Culture and Communications with experience supporting marketing, events and programme delivery in the cultural sector, including work with independent arts organisations such as Liverpool’s dot-art gallery, Liverpool Art Fair and the dot-art Schools programme celebrating young creative talent
Hannah McDonald
Research Advisor
(RSA Fellow / BFI Fellow / British Council alumni)
Catherine Dib
Participatory Democracy Advisor
(RSA Fellow / BFI Fellow / British Council alumni)
Research Support Team
Sarah Fey
Art Direction Research Associate
Sarah holds an MSc in Modern and Contemporary Art from the University of Edinburgh and is focused on working with organisations that create meaningful impact in the world
Jane Robb
Academic Rigour Advisor
Jane is an artist and academic with over a decade of experience in science education, including as a qualified teacher and lecturer in outdoor education. Her first PhD is in environmental social science, and she is currently pursuing her second doctorate in art and design at De Montfort University, UK. She has published peer reviewed papers on heritage collections, environmental social science and post-colonial teaching and learning
Annie Milburn
Social/ Data Analysis Research Advisor
Social researcher and engagement practitioner specialising in qualitative data analysis. Professional background in consultancy, including managing the analysis of nationwide public consultation projects in Scotland. Passionate about inclusive participation, empowering marginalised groups and ensuring that research outputs are clear and accessible to all
Operations
Adrian Cheung
Art Direction Research Associate
Sarah holds an MSc in Modern and Contemporary Art from the University of Edinburgh and is focused on working with organisations that create meaningful impact in the world
Miranda Torres
Academic Rigour Advisor
(RSA Fellow / BFI Fellow / British Council alumni)
Research Partners
Professor Sotiria Grek
University of Glasgow
Professor Sotiria Grek is Professor of Science, Knowledge and Public Policy at the University of Glasgow and Principal Investigator of the ERC funded POLART project, which examines how artistic practices shape the production of public policy knowledge globally. Through this research programme, Hive Mind Speaks’ civic arts model is being studied as a real world case of how artistic interventions can generate new forms of policy insight and democratic participation. Professor Grek is supervsing founder Joshua Oliver on the development of a potential PhD research proposal exploring the civic arts model and its capacity to bridge artistic practice, public deliberation and policy development.
Professor Yvette Taylor
University of Strathclyde
Professor Yvette Taylor is Professor of Education at the University of Strathclyde and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. She is currently Principal Investigator of the research project Athena’s Threshold: An EDI Doorway to Participation and Change, funded by the University of Strathclyde. The project pilots Hive Mind Speaks’ civic arts model within a university setting, using a campus-based artistic intervention to catalyse meaningful engagement with equality, diversity and inclusion questions. Through this collaboration, the model is being explored as a tool for moving beyond compliance-driven approaches toward deeper participation, lived experience insight and institutional learning.
Technology Partner
CrownShy
Official Civic Technology Partner
Hive Mind Speaks is proud to partner with CrownShy as our official civic technology partner, delivering our consensus-shaping deliberation and independant referendum platform.
Leaders in their field of particpatory democracy their technology and platforms have been used for reqwriting the L.A. Charter, the paris AI summit, at UC Berkely and for the Europpean Rural Parliament.
Elizabeth Barry
Co-Founder / Listening at Scale Pioneer
Elizabeth works globally with social movements, governments and civil society to design large-scale participatory processes. Formerly Head of Partnerships at the Computational Democracy Project, she has played a key role in advancing open-source democratic innovation, including early international coverage of vTaiwan and ongoing leadership in digital self-governance through Metagov.
Stuart Lynn
Co-Founder / Data Scientist & Open-Source Technologist
Stuart is a developer and data scientist with a PhD in Astrophysics from the University of Edinburgh. He has led technical teams at CARTO and The Zooniverse, and builds open-source tools that widen participation in scientific and civic processes. He leads CrownShy’s technical architecture and platform development.
Andy Paice
Head of Engagement & Facilitation
Andy is a specialist in deliberative democracy and public participation, having designed and facilitated numerous UK citizens’ assemblies and juries. He bridges digital tools with real-world democratic practice, ensuring inclusive and credible engagement processes.
Shu Yang Lin
Head of Design / Civic Process Designer
Shu works at the intersection of design and democratic innovation. Formerly involved in Taiwan’s Public Digital Innovation Space alongside Digital Minister Audrey Tang, she has helped deliver large-scale participatory initiatives such as vTaiwan. She leads user-centred design at CrownShy, ensuring democratic tools are intuitive, ethical and accessible.
Advisory Board
Alessandro Vincentelli
Artistic Direction Advisor
(RSA Fellow / BFI Fellow / British Council alumni)
Trustees & Board Level Members
Celine Rich Darley
Trustee
A former community artist and co-founder of an international energy and environment think tank, working as a fundraising consultant and prospect research strategist in the UK, now serving as Governance Manager for The Felix Project, having sat on nine nonprofit and social enterprise boards across Canada, the US and the UK
Martin Oxley
Trustee
Fellow of the Market Research Society and of the RSA, recognised internationally for his expertise in human sentiment and behaviour, he has been a sought‑after speaker around the world, sharing insights into what drives people, how they make decisions and how organisations can connect with them in meaningful ways
Liam Murray
Charity Secretary
Senior risk and governance specialist across major financial institutions, currently bringing deep expertise in regulatory compliance, organisational design and charity governance