As a Program Manager at the MIT CCC, Marina Rakhilin works within translational research to bring ideas into the real world. Marina brings experience in human-centered design, community-based participatory research methods, and social work for a unique perspective on constructive communication. Previously, Marina has coordinated research projects focused on a variety of behavior-change processes–sometimes exploring how to change behavioral patterns that reinforce symptoms of depression or how healthcare providers can incorporate tenets of cultural humility to better engage with marginalized populations.

Cassandra is a UX designer interested in challenging core assumptions built into the way we build and use technology. Prior to completing her master’s at CCC she studied cognitive science at McGill University where she was first exposed to AI research and taught herself graphic design for fun. Afterward she combined both interests by working as a voice designer building speech recognition platform for automotive contexts. This experience pushed her to consider the complex relationship we hold with machines, and to design systems which provide more than just transactional experiences.  In her most recent projects, she has been working with start-ups to create digital experiences which facilitate meaningful connection through games, play, guided introspection, and collective creativity.

Maggie designs technologies and systems informed by the human practices that contribute to a functioning deliberative democracy, such as dialogue and community organizing. In her PhD, she explores different methods of data collection, analysis, visualization, and action that are informed by these practices. Using participatory methods for design research, including codesign and participatory action research, Maggie partners with local community members and organizers in her work.

Daniel Kessler is a digital narratologist holding an M.A. in Narrative Systems Analysis from NYU Gallatin and a B.A. in Theatre and Creative Writing from Oberlin College. Daniel’s research focuses on the interpretation of written and spoken transcripts, virtual story worlds, and the psychosocial impacts of contemporary forms of narrative discourse. Most recently, Daniel worked as a RallyPoint Fellow and Research Assistant at Harvard University’s Nock Lab, where he studied disclosures of suicidal ideation within peer-to-peer networks, and where he designed numerous digital interventions for this population.

Cassandra is a first-year PhD student at the MIT Center for Constructive Communication (CCC). Her research interests involve building systems that integrate AI and design to help communities analyze and generate impact from their stories. Some of her ongoing research projects include designing SenseMate, an AI-based platform, to support non-researchers in qualitative data analysis and creating an online community engagement platform around school attendance boundary changes.

Michael is a Master’s student at the Center for Constructive Communication, where he hopes to build and assess responsible systems that can promote discourse and conversations that strengthen democracy, particularly with respect to science communication and critical thinking. He also has a very keen interest in societal, environmental, and economic sustainability. Previously, he was a news applications developer at Canada’s non-profit Investigative Journalism Foundation, where he worked with investigative journalists to promote accountability and transparency in Canada’s democracy.

Shrestha is a Master’s student working at the intersection of natural language processing and computational sociology, with a primary interest in multi-modal interactive systems and the creation of comprehensive multimodal datasets. Her research will explore and evaluate large language models, with the goal of advancing socially aware dialogue understanding systems that embrace diverse voices and perspectives. Previously she was an applied scientist at Microsoft, where her research focused primarily on interactive grounded language understanding in a collaborative environment (IGLU).

Cassidy is a rising sophomore at MIT interested in AI and decision making. She is an undergraduate research assistant at MIT CCC.
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Deb Roy is professor of Media Arts and Sciences at MIT where he directs the MIT Center for Constructive Communication (CCC). He leads research in designing human-AI systems that foster dialogue, listening, and deliberation in ways that build civic muscle. Roy is also co-founder and unpaid CEO of Cortico, a closely affiliated nonprofit collaborator of CCC that develops, operates and supports a conversation platform designed to surface underheard voices and perspectives and create scalable dialogue networks.

Claudia Chwalisz is the Founder and CEO of DemocracyNext, a global platform for democratic innovation working to shift who has power and how we take decisions in government and other organisations of daily life. Claudia was involved in designing the world’s first permanent Citizens’ Assemblies in Paris, Ostbelgien, and Brussels.
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Ieva advises DemocracyNext on specific projects. Currently this includes Lithuania's first Citizens' Assembly, in Vilnius. She is also freelancing and exploring her research interests that are emerging at the intersection of deliberative democracy, democratic theory, collective emotions, and collective trauma.