Kelly is the Director of Capacity Building and Standards at Involve (maternity cover until May 2026). She leads the organisation's efforts to build capacity for effective public participation across institutions and with communities throughout the UK and Europe. In this role, she oversees projects that build the processes, skills, structures and cultures for meaningful public engagement in decision making.
With experience spanning grassroots organisations to government collaboration in the UK and mainland Europe, Kelly brings a perspective that bridges community development and institutional change. She has been involved in leadership roles on a wide range of projects including Scotland's Climate Assembly, the UK's first national food conversation, establishing a European open governance network, participatory budgeting initiatives, and the development of democratic innovation frameworks for local government.
Kelly's expertise extends beyond project delivery to building sector-wide capacity through training programmes, mentoring, and the development of standards for participatory and deliberative processes. She has been a contributor to democracy innovation networks, government advisory groups, learning programmes, and practice research.
Before joining Involve, Kelly worked as Director of Policy & Practice at Democratic Society and Head of Community Engagement at TPXimpact, where she honed her skills in designing and delivering participatory approaches across complex policy challenges including climate action, place-making, health, and emerging technologies.
Kelly holds an MSc in Education from the University of Edinburgh, with a focus on learning for democracy. Outside of work they can be found exploring Scotland's hills and coastline, playing football, or engaging with their local community in Edinburgh.
Kelly McBride on LinkedIn