Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer

[Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer] Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer, Executive Director, Americans Discuss Social Security, is the Founder and former Executive Director (1995-97) of AmericaSpeaks, a not-for-profit seeking to link authentic citizen voices with governance through the identification and creation of new governance mechanisms and the design of citizen engagement processes which integrate face-to-face deliberation and electronic technology. She holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Development from Case Western Reserve University and has twenty-five years experience in both public and private organizations.

Dr. Lukensmeyer served as Consultant to the White House Office of the Chief of Staff from November 1993 through June 1994, directing a management audit of White House decision-making and operations. Previously, she was Deputy Project Director for Management of the National Performance Review (NPR), Vice President Gore’s reinventing government task force, where she brought the project in on time and under budget and received the Distinguished Service Award from the Federal Managers Association for Outstanding Leadership in Support of Excellence in Public Service. From 1986 to 1991 Dr. Lukensmeyer served as Chief of Staff to Governor Richard Celeste of Ohio. She was the first woman to serve as Ohio’s Chief of Staff and, at the time of her appointment, the only Chief of Staff recruited from the professional management field. Lukensmeyer led the modernization of Ohio’s state bureaucracy with innovative approaches to systems design, professional development, human resources and crisis management, and strategies for problem solving and communications.

Dr. Lukensmeyer is President of Lukensmeyer Associates, Inc., an organization consulting firm founded in 1974. She established an international reputation in the field of Organizational Development and Management Consulting. Clients have ranged in size from 10 to more than 350,000 employees, representing public and private sectors from five continents.