REINVENT DEMOCRACY - Key Persons
Gayle Underwood is one of the Mentors in the Science of Dialogic Design of the Reinventing Democracy project.
Gayle Underwood is a long-standing collaborator of Aleco Christakis and Yiannis Laouris. She collaborated with Future Worlds Center in many projects, including ….. Gayle Minnick-Underwood, B.S., M.A., Associate During Gayle Underwood's 15 years of experience in Education she has focused on helping students with special needs to use technology to be able to communicate and to participate more fully in school. She has worked as a Speech and Language Pathologist with students who have Severe and Multiple Impairments, as an Assistive Technology Coordinator with students who have special needs and most recently as the Technology Integration Consultant for the Allegan Area Education Service Agency (AAESA) in Allegan, Michigan. Gayle has consulted in schools all over Michigan and around the world including Kuwait where she worked with the staff at the Khalifa School in Kuwait City to help them implement Assistive Technology with their students.
Recently, through her involvement with the Michigan's Integrated Technology Supports (MITS) initiative in the Universal Design for Learning approach for Michigan's schools, her work expanded in learning the theory and practice of the science of Structured Dialogic Design (SDD). She has teamed with Dr. Alexander N. Christakis, one of the founders of SDD, to create a Virtual Structured Dialogic Design Process that has been helping groups of stakeholders from different walks of life to come to consensus regarding complex issues. This process is particularly suitable for listening concurrently to the authentic voices of such relevant stakeholders as parents, teachers, administrators, consultants, as well as students with special needs in a group setting for the purpose of designing effective learning and teaching strategies for all students.
Gayle is responsible for designing and implementing virtual SDD platforms for such challenging issues as building peace and contributing to the reunification of the Turkish and Greek communities in the island of Cyprus. Recently she collaborated with the Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO) and the Advancement of Maori Opportunity (AMO) in designing a virtual Indigenous Leaders Interactive System (ILIS) that will become a critical tool in enhancing the interaction and communication among indigenous people at the global scale all over the planet.
In the Information Age, all of us have special needs when it comes to our capacity to dialogue on learning how to address complex matters affecting our lives and the lives of other citizens. Gayle's career is dedicated to supporting people from all walks of life through the use of modern technology tools in fulfilling people's special needs for the practice of participative democracy.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for 21st Century Agoras
Kenneth C. Bausch is one of the Mentors in the Science of Dialogic Design of the Reinventing Democracy project.
Kenneth C. Bausch is co-founder and Executive Director of the Institute for 21st Century Agoras. Ken is a true social entrepreneur. He has served in the past as Franciscan priest, high school teacher, inner city organizer, social service administrator,real estate agent, home builder and contractor. He is currently a Professor at Capella University and Ashworth College.
Ken has published several papers on the science of dialogic design and a book together with Aleco Christakis.
He is member of the N.E.T.S. Board of Trustees.
He is the author of Body Wisdom, The Emerging Consensus in Social Systems Theory, A Democratic Approach to Sustainable Futures, and co-author of How People Harness their Collective Wisdom and Power to Construct the Future.
Job Titles:
- Director of Research for the Institute of 21st Century Agoras
Kevin Dye is one of the Mentors in the Science of Dialogic Design of the Reinventing Democracy project.
Kevin Dye has joined the Cyprus Neuroscience and Technology Institute in January 2008 as Senior Research Scientist. Kevin is a long time collaborator of Aleco Christakis and founding member and staff of the Institute for 21st Century Agoras. He has supported and participated in several projects of Future Worlds Center including the Civil Society Dialogue Project in Cyprus.
Mr. Dye is the Director of Research for the Institute of 21st Century Agoras. He previously served in research roles as:
Norma Romm is one of the Mentors in the Science of Dialogic Design of the Reinventing Democracy project.
Norma Romm is an international SDDP pioneers. She has published six books and co-edited books on issues including accountability in social research, social theory and critical systems thinking. Norma has developed a critic about the role of SDDP Facilitators. She has also written a review on Aleco Christakis and Kenneth Baush book.
Norma is serving as a Systems Design Mentor for the UNDEF project.
Norma is a professor in the Department of Adult Basic Education and Youth Development, University of South Africa. She is the author of The Methodologies of Positivism and Marxism (Macmillan, 1991), Accountability in Social Research (Springer, 2001), New Racism (Springer, 2010), People's Education in Theoretical Perspective (with V. McKay, Longman, 1992), Diversity Management (with R. Flood, Wiley, 1996), and Assessment of the Impact of HIV and AIDS in the Informal Economy of Zambia (with V. McKay, ILO, 2008). She has co-edited two books-Social Theory (with M. Sarakinsky, Heinemann, 1994) and Critical Systems Thinking (with R. Flood, Plenum, 1996)-and published more than 95 research articles. She has worked on a range of research projects aimed at increasing equity for organizations such as the ILO, ADEA, IOM, and UNESCO.
Job Titles:
- President of the Institute for 21st Century Agoras
Tom Flanagan is one of the Mentors in the Science of Dialogic Design of the Reinventing Democracy project.
Tom Flanagan is president of the Institute for 21st Century Agoras, the umbrella institution responsible for the development of the Science of Dialogic Design and the monitoring of world-wide Structured Dialogic Design Process application. The Agoras was founded by Aleco Christakis and has on its Board several experts involved in this project, including Yiannis Laouris, President of Future Worlds Center, Ken Bausch, Kevin Dye, Peter Jones and Reynaldo Treviño. From his position as President, Tom supports and collaborates intensively with Future Worlds Center. For example, he has been Faculty member and instructor during the 2nd [1] and the 3rd [2] International SDDP Summer schools.
Tom has also published 'The Talking Point: Creating an Environment for Exploring Complex Meaning' together with Aleco Christakis[3]
Tom Flanagan is president of the Institute for 21st Century Agoras. He is also founder and director of the SouthCoast Community Collaborative Design Studio in Southeastern Massachusetts. He is a board member and officer of the corporation of the Barrington Public Library, and has serveed on the Barrington School Board, the New Bedford Economic Development Council, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Alumni Council, and the Massachusetts Office of Dispute Resolution and Public Collaboration,
Tom's background includes a doctorate in neurobiology with research, publications and patents from work he has led within academic and corporate R&D groups. His management training from MIT's Sloan School focused on partnership development. He has worked in many highly innovative technical teams, and has founded and led non-profit and for profit ventures. He has taught university students in business management, engineering, chemistry and biology, and he has pioneered an international online course in Democracy and Sustainability.
Tom's recent management work has focused on university-industry-government linkages related to sustainable, technology-based regional economic development. His current design mission is tobring democratic design practices that have been validated in many organizations into broad civic use throughout the greater New Bedford area.