Katy Rubin is a Legislative Theatre practitioner, creative civic strategist, and founder of The People Act, a hub for creative civic practice. Working at the intersection of governance, democracy, and community power, Katy has spent over 15 years partnering with local and national governments, advocacy organisations, and grassroots groups in the UK, Europe, and previously New York City to co-create equitable public policy through joyful, inclusive, and participatory processes.
Katy specialises in Legislative Theatre, a methodology that embeds lived experience directly into policymaking and redesigns democratic spaces to redistribute power. Through interactive performances, residents frame policy problems and work alongside policymakers to imagine, test, and analyse solutions in real time—making every participant a rule-changer. Her work spans housing and homelessness, climate justice, health and welfare, economic justice, and youth mental health.
She is a Senior Fellow with People Powered: Global Hub for Participatory Democracy, a Senior Atlantic Fellow at LSE, and former Executive Director of Theatre of the Oppressed NYC. Notable projects include collaborating with disabled young people and Glasgow City Council to shape an inclusive green transport strategy, contributing to increased accessibility measures and youth participation in COP26, as well as climate and mobility work in Greater Manchester.
Over the next phase of her work, Katy is building the infrastructure, evidence base, communication tools, and practitioner networks needed to scale Legislative Theatre as an integral part of policy development in the UK and beyond. She is committed to growing a movement of creative, grassroots democratic practices that centre storytelling, fun, and collective leadership as essential tools for structural change.