Testimonials

Working with Max is a delight. Max’s facilitation, collaboration and problem solving style is respectful and calm, along with being both accessible and professional.

The most significant project we have worked on with Max was the planning and undertaking of a community symposium, focused on the drafting of our city’s 20 year strategy, MV2040. We appreciated the opportunity to ‘sound board’ with Max and utilise his extensive and varied collaboration and facilitation experience to plan an engaging day for our community. Max’s facilitation on the day kept things moving at a comfortable pace, with a great energy maintained for the entirety of the symposium. The environment Max created resulted in a wealth of insightful feedback from our community and significant positive feedback was received from a wide variety of our participants.

Our teams also benefit greatly from the opportunities to work with Max; learning new skills and approaches for how to most genuinely and effectively collaborate with a diversity of stakeholders.

Jessie Keating

Manager Strategic Planning

Moonee Valley City Council

09/01/2019

'Max's extensive experience with deliberative engagement, as well as his uniquely calming facilitation style, has helped bring about a step-change in the type of public engagement expected in Western Australia. It has been an absolute pleasure to partner with and learn from the best in the business, and I continue to look for opportunities to work together. I would recommend Max for any project, and especially for complex topics in strategic community and urban planning.'

Anna Kelderman

Director

SHAPE URBAN

19/11/2018

Max recently facilitated a two day course for us at Council about tackling the internal and external challenges of community engagement. Max is an exceptional facilitator and his ability to draw on experiences across such a broad and diverse background in CE is invaluable to those before him. I would highly recommend Max to anyone who is wanting to either dip their toe or dive right into the CE world – you won’t be disappointed.

Barbara Dart

Acting Chief Operating Officer, Health, Security and Regulatory Services Department

Ipswich City Council

30/07/2018

I first encountered Max in Auckland when he delivered IAP2 training I was attending. Many years later, I’ve had the opportunity to work with him on two significant local government projects in Melbourne using co-design and deliberative engagement approaches. Max’s great strength was helping council decision makers understand their role in the engagement process and giving them confidence to try different techniques to get a better engagement outcome. His exceptional facilitation skills means he can wrangle even the most difficult room into having constructive conversations and he generously shares his expertise with the internal teams that work with him so they expand their skills and capability. I highly recommend Max for any engagement project.

Lisa Rae

Communications Manager, Laing O'Rourke

30/11/2017

'Max worked with us to design and execute a series of workshops based on the citizen jury principles, to enable a conversation between community members about the growth and change expected to occur in a challenging inner city municipality.
Max understood the key issues at hand, gave expert advice and worked with us to tailor the process to ensure we got the most out of it. Overall I learnt a lot and the workshops were a success!'

Liz Mackevicius

Senior Associate, Melbourne Practice Leader, Partner

SGS Economics & Planning

30/11/2017

'I have had the pleasure of both being a participant in a fantastic training session run by Max, and also as a client. Max was of tremendous assistance navigating through a challenging engagement process with great support, advice and good humour. Thank you Max.'

Kellie King

General Manager – Community & Corporate Services, Wannon Water

30/11/2017

'I have had the pleasure of working with Max when he ventures up to sunny Queensland!  He is a generous, insightful and highly skilled professional who absolutely practices what he believes in.  Nobody understands the importance of collaboration, engagement and the challenges this brings for organisations better than Max!  He is an excellent coach, facilitator and trainer and can support the people in your organisation to build capacity and meet these challenges effectively.'

Lindy Fentiman
Tog Consulting

18/03/2015

'I had the wonderful opportunity to watch Max in action facilitating the Citizen's Jury for People With Disability Australia in Sydney last month which I was filming. Max's tagline "results through collaboration" is spot on. It was pure magic watching Max create collaboration and results from a randomly selected jury - 12 very unique personalities from all around Australia who had never met before. The Citizen's Jury itself is an amazing process and to watch it all come together so seamlessly under Max's guidance was even more amazing.'

Lara Damiana
Think Films

18/03/2015

'I have known Max for more than ten years. I was a student of his doing the IAP2 Certificate, engaged him as a consultant for in-house work in local government, and then worked alongside him on a consumer engagement capacity building project at the Royal Brisbane Womens Hospital. He is great to be around and work with. Max is an exceptional facilitator, really knows his stuff and definitely hits the mark. Just as important, he has loads of integrity and really believes in the people he works with and for.'

Amber James
Fresh PR and Marketing

29/01/2015

'I have always been impressed with Max’s ability to navigate and resolve the thorny issues through collaboration.  He involves all participants right from the beginning: asking “what’s the question that needs answering here”? His efforts alongside John Dengate in the journey that was The Queensland Plan were stellar and he was a significant contributor to the outcome of nearly 80,000 Queenslanders leaving their “fingerprints” on the 30 Year Vision for our great State.'

The Honourable Andrew Powell MP
Minister for Environment and Heritage Protection

21/01/2015

'If one were to ask me who was the best facilitator and facilitation trainer in the world, I would unequivocally answer “Max Hardy.” As the public involvement manager at one of the largest U.S.-based environmental engineering firms, I often took along my notes from Max’s facilitation class to meet with clients and, on their behalf, with the public. When I was asked to facilitate a state director level meeting of three federal and two state agencies regarding water supply issues, it was Max’s notes that gave me the confidence to try to create a collaborative experience for everyone in the room. Max’s ability to engage is outstanding!'

Carol M Anderson
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

21/01/2015

'I worked with Max for 17 years and appreciate his honesty, integrity and ability to connect with people at all levels. I learned much from him, particularly around Appreciative Inquiry, the appreciative approach and the value of deliberation. While I miss him, I have confidence that he will continue to be a wise advisor and advocate for his clients as they co-create solutions with their stakeholders.'

Vivien Twyford
Director, Twyfords

17/01/2015

I have worked with Max Hardy on two complex projects which took deliberative democracy and applied it to new problems. In 2007 at a ceremony in Arizona, USA Max along with the ACT Disability Advisory Council was awarded the IAP2 (International) Award for "Project of the Year" for our Citizens Jury project which provided scorecard on Challenge 2014. Now in 2014 we’ve engaged Max to help project manage a hugely important project to produce a user lead scorecard on the trials for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the pre-eminent disability reform of our times. Max is clever, solution oriented, true to the process while bringing an assured and deft touch”

Craig Wallace.
President, People with Disability Australia

15/01/2015

'Max is one of the leading superstars of community engagement and collaborative governance in Australia. Since I first met him as my trainer in Adelaide back in 2007, I've admired his approach. He's passionate, dedicated, admired in the field and I look forward to seeing the next steps of his career unfold. Watch out world!'

Becky Hirst
Principal, Becky Hirst Consulting

13/01/2015

'Max Hardy has worked with my senior executive team and local stakeholders to facilitate the co-creation of social wellbeing strategies. Max’s style is both collaborative and supportive and he gets the best from people involved. I highly recommend Max to anyone who is embarking on a process of co-creation.'

Eugene McGarrell
District Director, Northern Sydney
Department of Family and Community Services

12/01/2015

'I have known and worked with Max for about two years, however I have been very aware of his career and engagement experience applied to major projects across industry sectors for a much longer period. Max has been at the forefront of pioneering new mechanisms and methodologies for genuine engagement and this resonates for his clients and is proven through the many results he has delivered.

Max is an inquiring consultant ensuring not only value for money being delivered but he leaves a legacy of change. Challenging the status quo Max will support your project success.

Just like Max's techniques his warm persona and approachable nature will ensure lasting results. I am more than happy to recommend Max and wish him every success!'

Courtney Brown
Director Business Development at BDR Projects
Telstra Business Woman of the Year Nominee 2014

11/01/2015

'I have worked with Max on many occasions and have great respect for his skills and knowledge around community engagement and collaboration. He is an expert trainer and a strong advocate for Appreciative Inquiry approaches.'

Ian Dixon,
Principal,
Dixon Partnering Solutions

08/01/2015

'Max Hardy brings to his work a delightful combination of common sense, integrity, experience, laced with a sly sense of humour.'

 

Beatrice Briggs

Director
International Institute for Facilitation and Change (IIFAC)

Tepoztlán, Morelos, Mexico

07/01/2015

'Max is a democracy enthusiast. He finds ways to enable, empower and encourage every voice to be heard and designs processes that foster the principle: every voice is worth hearing.'

Moira Deslandes
Director, Moira Deslandes  Consulting

 

06/01/2015

'Max is a long time colleague, mentor and friend. He has a deft touch as a facilitator and collaboration strategist due his deeply developed empathetic listening skills, along with the experience and wisdom of many years of working on thorny problems with people from all walks of life'.

Crispin Butteriss, PhD
Co-founder and Chief Practice Officer
Bang the Table

 

06/01/2015

“Max is a trusted and respected colleague and friend of Capire. He is always able to provide us with a sound, strategic and independent perspective – even on the toughest projects in very complex communities”

Amy Hubbard
CEO, Capire.

05/01/2015

'Max Hardy has a unique ability to build the confidence and capacity of teams working in engagement. He brings a wealth of experience and insight. We have worked together on a number of deliberative projects and he is a delight to work with!'

Amanda Newbery
Articulous

05/01/2015