Dr. Don Lenihan is President and CEO of Middle Ground Policy Research and Senior Associate at the Institute on Governance. He is an internationally recognized expert on public engagement, governance, policy development, and organizational change.
Middle Ground is one of four firms in the Informed Participation Solutions consortium, led by the IOG. The initiative blends new and emerging tools for public deliberation, such as narrative building and Artificial Intelligence, to help governments manage complex issues in new ways.
Don also co-chairs the Open Government Partnership’s (OGP) Practice Group on Dialogue and Deliberation, an international panel of experts who are developing a methodology for public deliberation processes. The Group has so far published four major papers on the topic and is working on a fifth. Don is the principal writer on these projects (see his website homepage).
Don has over 25 years’ experience as a project leader, researcher, writer, speaker, senior government advisor, trainer, and facilitator. Throughout his career, he has developed and led many research and consultation projects involving senior public servants, academics, elected officials, journalists, and members of the private and third sectors from across the country.
He is the author of numerous articles, studies, and books and co-writes a weekly column for National Newswatch, Canada’s preeminent political news aggregator. He earned his PhD in political theory from the University of Ottawa and is proficient in French.