Brenden Carriker

Principal

Brenden Carriker headshot
A recognised leader in human-centred innovation, Brenden specialises in facilitating co-design for strategies, services and system-wide reforms to deliver real impact.
He brings deep expertise in trauma-informed engagement with people with lived experience, ensuring diverse voices shape policy and service design. Brenden is known for navigating complexity with optimism, enabling organisations to embrace and embed new ways of working. He is passionate about the potential to harness AI-enabled tools to create more responsive, inclusive and sustainable solutions for the future.

Influential work

  • Co-designed Victoria’s Suicide Prevention and Response Strategy with people with lived experience to reduce suicide rates and strengthen early intervention, supported by an accountability framework clarifying delivery across government and community 
  • Led discovery and design of a territory government’s digital time and attendance solution, improving workforce efficiency and user experience 
  • Delivered award-winning co-design of regulatory reform solutions with councils and regulators, reducing burden while improving compliance and process efficiency 
  • Designed uplift options for a state rail operator to deliver a world-class, accessible customer information system 
  • Co-designed tools and resources to support organisations responding to child sexual abuse, improving service quality nationally 
  • Redesigned a state emergency management organisation’s injury recovery operating model, enhancing member experience and support pathways 

Outside of Nous

Brenden brings over 15 years’ experience delivering complex projects in the public and private sectors. Prior to Nous he led CityLab, an in-house innovation and change consultancy at City of Melbourne; seen as a role model for visionary thinking, collaboration and experimentation within the Australian public sector. While at CityLab, Brenden led its growth and evolution from a small design team into a high-performing and multidisciplinary team with capabilities in design, creative communications, agile, analytics and change management.  

Brenden holds a Master of Urban Habitat Management from University of Adelaide and a Bachelor of Science with a major in ecology, behaviour and evolution from University of California, San Diego. 

In his spare time...

Brenden grew up in Arizona and loves being outdoors. He’s an avid gardener, hiker, scuba diver and birder. And, since you asked, his favourite bird is the Major Mitchell's cockatoo.