Ipsos Mori appoints new head of deliberative engagement in the UK

Patel joins Ipsos from the Ada Lovelace Institute where she helped build a team of more than 20 people over a period of four years and established the organisation’s public engagement practice.

The institute is an independent research body specialising in public engagement with emerging technologies in the field of data and AI. While at Ada, Patel led a range of high-profile projects concerning the public’s expectations regarding the use of data for a range of purposes including facial recognition technology and biometrics, health data, contact tracing and commercial data sharing within the NHS.

Previously Patel held public engagement, policy analyst and communications posts at the Royal Society of Arts, Involve and the New Local Government Network. Patel regularly advises organisations on their approach to public engagement, particularly as it relates to understanding lived experience and its impact on underrepresented communities.

Patel plans to work on existing and new dialogue and deliberative studies for Ipsos Mori’s existing client base, drawing on learnings from her time in previous organisations to ensure the studies are as impactful as possible and address the policy challenges and dilemmas clients are facing.

She will also help Ipsos Mori grow its international engagement offer, building on work already completed by the company and utilising the organisation’s presence in more than 90 countries, global networks, and intelligence.

Commenting on the appointment, Michelle Mackie, head of the qualitative research and engagement centre at Ipsos Mori, said: “I am delighted to have Reema join my team and look forward to working closely with her to continue to bring the public voice into policy making. Reema is a well-regarded engagement practitioner and has a lot of experience on both the commissioning side of deliberations and the delivery.

“She has been advising the Scottish government around its Covid-19 public engagement strategy, while also being part of the Bank of England Central Bank Digital Currency Engagement Forum and the OECD Innovative Citizen Participation Network. Reema has some fantastic ideas and the team is excited to have her join us.”