What I Offer | Carrie Lumby

There are a range of ways I support community engagement and co-design projects and the people doing this work.

PROJECT LEAD & FACILITATOR

I lead and support the delivery of community engagement and co-design projects, from background scoping and agenda development to workshop facilitation and report writing.

I have extensive experience designing purposeful processes that proactively establish the conditions for meaningful and equitable participation.

My facilitation techniques are informed by social work theory and practice-based learning in trauma-responsive group work and restorative justice approaches.

I am highly skilled in working productively with power and ethically negotiating conflict, including with people experiencing severe distress because of systemic injustice.

ADVISOR & CAPABILITY BUILDER

I provide expert guidance on engaging people with lived experience and wider communities for specific projects and support organisations to strengthen their capability for lived experience participation and partnership.

I can advise on approach at a project’s scoping phase or be part of a project team for longer-term work. This could include developing engagement strategies, frameworks, and associated resources, as well as supporting their implementation.

My work is informed by a robust understanding of participatory methodologies such as co-design and co-production, as well as practical experience applying these approaches in public policy and human services contexts.

MENTOR & SUPERVISOR

I mentor people seeking a trusted space to explore the challenges associated with doing purposeful co-design and engagement work. I also provide formal supervision to people working in lived experience identified roles and advocates seeking to develop their influencing skills.

I take a strengths-based approach - supporting a person to draw on their existing knowledge, skills and personal resources to find creative and ethically sustainable ways to meet professional challenges – while also offering insights based on contemporary thinking and my own practice reflections.

My approach integrates social work concepts, peer work principles, and the practice wisdom I have developed as a social worker, peer worker and workshop facilitator.