Katy Rubin - About

Katy Rubin is a Legislative Theatre practitioner and strategist based in the UK, and founder of The People Act hub for creative civic practice. She works in partnership with local and national governments and community groups to co-create equitable and innovative public policy, and advocates for a participatory democracy that’s joyful, creative, and inclusive. She currently collaborates with cities around Europe to design policy initiatives on housing, health care, social welfare, the climate crisis, and urban planning, alongside training new practitioners. Katy is also a Senior Fellow with People Powered: Global Hub for Participatory Democracy; a Senior Atlantic Fellow at the LSE; and former executive director of Theatre of the Oppressed NYC. Her Legislative Theatre work with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority was awarded the International Observatory of Participatory Democracy’s 2022 award for Best Practice in Citizen Participation.

Katy trained with creator of Theatre of the Oppressed, Augusto Boal, in Brazil, and has led projects with activists and artists internationally over the past two decades. She holds a BFA in Acting from the Boston University School of Theatre and is an alum of Coro Leadership New York. Check out a portfolio of Katy's recent Legislative Theatre projects in the UK.

EXPERIENCE

Legislative Theatre and Participatory Democracy Practitioner — 2019-present

Design, coordination and facilitation of Legislative Theatre participatory policy-making processes across the United Kingdom. These include long-term policy platform development projects as well as capacity-building initiatives, workshops and short intensives.

Ongoing and Recent Projects

Policy Issues: homelessness prevention, private rental sector, climate crisis, transport, city planning, NHS access, mental health services, cultural policy, civic engagement
Local Councils: Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Glasgow City Council, Coventry Council, Islington Council
Partners: Greater Manchester Housing First, Shelter, Union Chapel London, Migration Yorkshire, GM Homelessness Action Network, Shared Future CIC, The Men’s Room, Cardboard Citizens, Arts Homelessness International, Collective Encounters, Mind the Gap, University of Virginia Charlottesville, People Powered

Theatre of the Oppressed NYC — Founder and Executive Director, 2011-2018

Grew a start-up organization into an $800,000 nonprofit, representing an average annual budget increase of 66% from 2011 to 2018.
Negotiated purchase of permanent office and community space for TONYC in Times Square.
Developed a unique community-led organizational structure, prioritizing leadership pipelines and hiring within directly-impacted communities.
Led Theatre of the Oppressed trainings for nonprofits, educators and city employees around the US and internationally.
Co-founded Sustainable Sisterhood, a resource-sharing network of women executive directors of social justice nonprofits.