Helen Christensen is a community engagement specialist with over 18 years’ experience helping people navigate complex issues, share ideas, and shape better decisions together.

With a background spanning local government, consulting, education, and research, she brings both breadth and depth to her work, combining sharp thinking with a practical, people-focused approach. Her expertise includes participatory and deliberative process design, policy and strategy development, facilitation, and capability building.

Helen has been delivering training for IAP2 for over a decade and was the inaugural Chair of its Research Committee, championing the connection between practice and evidence. She completed her PhD in 2020 at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), where she explored how community engagement is practised and professionalised in Australian local government.

She’s especially energised by work that builds the capability and confidence of others, whether through training, mentoring, or community building, and is most at home when supporting people to step into participatory work with purpose (and maybe even a bit of joy).

Her facilitation and training style is energetic and enthusiastic, always with a focus on clarity, connection, and creating space for people to think, speak, and be heard.