Testimonials
"Carolyn is an exceptionally gifted facilitator. She brings thoughtful preparation, adaptability and warmth to every engagement, tailoring her approach so that people with disability can participate fully and confidently. Her extensive experience helping people with significant disability share their perspectives to bring about change is evident in the care and skill she brings to her work. Her calm, disarming style puts people at ease while keeping the conversation and run sheet firmly on track. She's equally skilled behind the scenes, preparing speakers thoroughly and anticipating what is needed to create a successful, smooth, inclusive and engaging event. I would recommend her without hesitation."
Jessica Craven | Strategic Communications and Media Manager, Summer Foundation
"I have worked with Carolyn Finis on two significant pieces of work. The first was the co-design of our Tenant Advisory Committee, an extensive process built to carry the voice of our tenants all the way to the board table and to ensure genuine engagement with the people most affected by our decisions. The second was a large-scale transfer of a Specialist Disability Accommodation portfolio, moving substantial property assets and around 200 tenants across to a new provider while ensuring those tenants could exercise choice and control, and while giving effect to the commercial objectives of the transaction.
What stood out to me was Carolyn's ability to hold the organisation's commercial and strategic objectives alongside genuine lived experience. Co-design is often approached as though it means privileging a single stakeholder group. Carolyn builds a balanced composition that can respond to a set of objectives, then manages the dynamic so the group produces actionable outcomes rather than stalling, with people on all sides feeling heard. She also has an ear and patience for the gems worth investigating further, the comments or ideas others would let pass but that turn out to matter, and knowing which threads to pull is a skill in its own right. Not many people can manage that complexity, and it is the reason her work leads to real decisions rather than good intentions."
Tobias O'Hehir | Board Director, Liverty Housing
"While I was the chair of Summer Foundation, we made a decision to create a specialist unit to develop the Foundation’s expertise in co-design and stakeholder engagement.
Carolyn Finis established and led that unit. I am pleased to report that Carolyn’s work had a transformational impact on our understanding of the views of people with disabilities.
I can say with confidence that Carolyn’s unit was one of our best investments."
Chris Leptos AO | chris@leptos.com Former Chairman, Summer Foundation