Grace Taylor joined Healthy Democracy in December 2021.  She manages logistics, budgeting and other policies, procedures, and systems for Healthy Democracy’s team.

She holds a Master’s in Organizational Leadership from Pinchot University, and a BA in Political Economy from Lewis and Clark College. Prior to Healthy Democracy, she worked as an organizational development and strategic planning consultant for numerous Portland-area nonprofits and has worked with Rural Organizing Project and Vibrant Village Foundation, coordinating operations and finances. Earlier in her career she was a grassroots social justice organizer and international solidarity activist.

Grace grew up in Denver, Colorado, but Portland, Oregon is her longtime home. She’s parenting two teenagers, and loves hiking, backpacking and live music and dance.

Justin co-leads Healthy Democracy’s programs, with a focus on process design and facilitation. He first got to know HD while working as an external evaluator on the Oregon Citizens’ Initiative Review in 2010, and has collaborated with the organization several times since then before joining the team as a program director in 2024. He has a master’s and doctorate in political communication from the University of Washington, and a bachelor’s in earth science from Georgia Tech.

Prior to joining Healthy Democracy, he was an associate professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK. His research and teaching centers on how people make decisions on challenging issues, how people and policy makers can come together to deliberate on tough topics, and how thoughtful communication design can help people make better decisions on risk-related issues. Justin will be continuing some of his research projects as an adjunct professor at OU.

Justin grew up in Kansas City and Atlanta, and recently moved back to Seattle, where he lived for several years during graduate school. He enjoys cooking, baking, and being outdoors around the Pacific Northwest.

Lauren co-leads Healthy Democracy’s programs department with a focus on program management, strategy, and innovation.

Lauren studied Planning, Public Policy, and Management at the University of Oregon with a focus on Nonprofit Administration and Public Leadership. While at UO, she was a Provost’s Innovation Student Fellow where she spearheaded Participate, a project that advertised civic information, believing that civic engagement should be easy and accessible to everyone. Prior to Healthy Democracy, Lauren directed a $1-million federal grant that spanned 7 counties and 20+ organizational partners. She is certified in Nonprofit Project Management and has 11 years of training in communication and facilitation through The Learning Well in Medford, Oregon.

A long-time Oregonian, Lauren spends her free time reading, cooking and baking, and hosting various events within her community.

Linn co-leads Healthy Democracy’s program development and process design, with an emphasis on lottery-selection procedure, process self-governance, and urban planning integration. He also leads HD’s systems-level democracy innovation work, including the application of lottery assemblies to city charter review and direct democracy systems (i.e., initiatives and referenda).

Since joining HD in 2016, he has co-designed and -managed 15 major lottery-selected deliberative events, from city-level lottery assemblies to statewide Citizens’ Initiative Reviews. He has advised dozens of local government staff and electeds across the United States, as well as academics, foundations, and intergovernmental organizations. 

He holds a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from Portland State University and a BA in History from Grinnell College. In his spare time, he plays music and volunteers as a fire lookout in the Central Oregon Cascades.