N. Anand, L. Weinstein
Beyond Academia
Nicole Anand is a political economist with a practice in participatory design and mixed-methods research. She is a specialist in governance, data/information/knowledge and social design. Nicole teaches Design Research as part-time faculty at Parsons School of Design, The New School. She is a leader in the open government movement, and has led collaborative work between government and civil society in Asia, Latin America, West Africa and Eastern Europe. Previously, Nicole led the research, strategy and learning of civil society organizations working on public sector innovation, anti-corruption, and social justice.
Lauren Weinstein is a participatory designer working at the intersection of social innovation and social justice. She is currently the Senior Design Research Lead at Ideo.org. She leads projects that help bring citizen voice and power into decision making around research, design, and implementation. Previously, Lauren served as a Principal at The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI). She led work focused on demystifying systemic change roles within philanthropy, accelerating co-designed alternatives for child protection, and supporting self-determined Aboriginal-led justice reform.
Nicole and Lauren are co-founders of The Residency, a global learning collective of civil servants, civil society, and social designers/innovators, that elevates multidisciplinary and cross-sector practice to tackle complex problem problems.