Who We Are & What We DoIFTF has pioneered tools and methods for building foresight ever since its founding days. Co-founder Olaf Helmer was the inventor of the Delphi Method, and early projects developed cross-impact analysis and scenario tools. Today, IFTF is methodologically agnostic, with a brimming toolkit that includes the following favorites [documented as goals in this StratML rendition]Institute for the FutureIFTF_38cdd4f6-9361-11e7-8ea3-054806856967IFTF is an independent, non-profit research organization with a nearly 50-year track record of helping all kinds of organizations make the futures they want. Our core research staff and creative design studio work together to provide practical foresight for a world undergoing rapid change.IFTF StaffAmong our staff are experienced forecasters representing a range of disciplines from the social sciences, public policy, and technical domains. They are joined by creative designers who render our research in accessible and innovative print and digital formats...The IFTF staff span a range of disciplines from the social sciences, public policy, technology, and the creative arts. This interdisciplinary team collaborates to bring cross-disciplinary insights to futures that combine complex challenges and require unconventional perspectives.Marina GorbisExecutive DirectorCindy BaskinExecutive Assistant to the Executive DirectorRobin BogottArt DirectorRebecca ChesneyResearch DirectorQuinault ChildsResearch ManagerJake DunaganResearch DirectorMax ElderResearch ManagerRod FalconProgram Director,Technology HorizonsTessa FinlevResearch DirectorSusanne ForchheimerResearch + Engagement Program ManagerMark FrauenfelderResearch DirectorKatie FullerDirector of Finance + AdministrationEri GentryResearch ManagerAlex GoldmanResearch ManagerJean HaganExecutive ProducerBen HamamotoResearch ManagerDavid Evan HarrisResearch DirectorAshley HemstreetProgram CoordinatorDylan HendricksProgram Director, Ten-Year ForecastToshi Anders HooDirector, Emerging Media LabParminder JassalDirector, Work + Learn Futures GroupLyn JefferyDistinguished FellowBob JohansenDistinguished FellowNamsah KargboProgram CoordinatorMaureen KirchnerProduction DirectorJeremy KirshbaumResearch ManagerBradley KreitResearch DirectorTrent KuhnDigital Artist + IllustratorDaria LambDirector of PartnershipsNeela LazkaniSales + Marketing ManagerMike LiebholdDistinguished FellowRachel MaguireResearch DirectorJane McGonigalDirector of Game Research + DevelopmentEric MooreSenior IT ManagerSean NessBusiness Development DirectorCarol NeuschulProgram + Community ManagerDavid PescovitzResearch DirectorChristina RuppProgram ManagerSara SkvirskyResearch DirectorSarah SmithResearch DirectorKathi VianDistinguished FellowSalley WestergaardFinance Ops CoordinatorPatricia WyattDirector, Strategic PartnershipsIFTF AffiliatesOur network extends to include affiliates, bringing a diversity of perspectives and experiences to research and events. From university professors to independent thought leaders and hands-on innovators, they help us work at the forefront of new ideas and practices worldwide...Our IFTF affiliates work closely with us to bring special expertise, diverse experience, and out-of-the-ordinary talents to our projects and events. They all have strong standing in their individual disciplines and communities and amplify our capacity to engage with the most challenging futures. Richard AdlerDistinguished FellowAndrea BloomResearch AffiliateMary CainResearch AffiliateAlexandra CarmichaelResearch AffiliateJamais CascioDistinguished FellowCatherine CasserlyResearch AffiliateChiara CecchiniResearch AffiliateMatt ChwierutResearch AffiliateSimone CiceroResearch AffiliatePeter CoughlanResearch AffiliateMattia CrespiResearch AffiliateKatherine Haynes SanstadResearch AffiliateJan English-LueckDistinguished FellowDevin FidlerResearch AffiliateNatalie FosterResearch AffiliateStephanie LeppResearch AffiliateMary Kay MagistadResearch FellowJerry MichalskiResearch AffiliateBen OppenheimResearch AffiliateHoward RheingoldDistinguished FellowDouglas RushkoffResearch FellowDale StephensResearch AffiliateJason TesterResearch AffiliateDavid ThigpenResearch AffiliateLiisa VälikangasResearch AffiliateJaques ValléeDistinguished FellowAriel WaldmanResearch AffiliateNicolas WeidingerResearch + Design AffiliateLindsea K. WilburResearch AffiliateIFTF Board of DirectorsThe IFTF Board of Directors is committed to the financial, operational, and intellectual vitality of the organization. From the earliest days, these trustees have partnered with IFTF's management to evolve the organization’s mission, resources, and administrative practices to meet the demands of a changing world.Berit AshlaVice President, Rockefeller Philanthropy AdvisorsKaren EdwardsVice President, Branding, PodTechRod FalconProgram Director, IFTFMarina GorbisExecutive Director, IFTFJean HaganExecutive Producer, IFTFMarianne JacksonChief Learning Officer, eBay; Founder & Principal, 3g Human Capital ConsultingMichael KleemanSenior Fellow, UC San DiegoSteve MilovichPresident, Milovich PartnersLawrence WilkinsonChairman, Heminge & CondellIFTF FellowsFuture for Good Fellows -- Each year, six new Future for Good fellows join IFTF in bringing futures thinking, innovation, and an entrepreneurial sensibility to the urgent futures we all face today. From March through November, these fellows will collaborate, investigate, and innovate as they pursue personal projects that can lead to a better future for all.IFTF 2017 FellowsIn 2017, we are focusing on one particular urgent future: the future of governance.Pockets of engaged citizens around the world are already leveraging network technologies to prototype the future of governance. They are creating community free spaces, open data repositories, and collaborative investigative journalism platforms that reveal global crime and corruption. We work with these governance innovators and amplify their efforts, identify commonalities and connections between them, surface needs, and share what we learn with the wider public. We are building a vibrant community of thinkers and doers who together are sowing the seeds of a new governance infrastructure in support of a free, open, and equitable society. This year's Future for Good fellows are doing just that.Matthew MitchellFounder, CryptoHarlemMichelle MillerCofounder, Coworker.orgSam WoolleyResearcher, Oxford Internet InstituteJohn W. LittleCreator, Blogs of WarYasmine El BeggariFounder, VoyajKristin SharpExecutive Director, SHIFTIFTF 2016 Fellows2016 Future for Good Fellows -- In 2016, six new Future for Good fellows joined IFTF in bringing futures thinking, innovation, and an entrepreneurial sensibility to the urgent futures we all face today.Lance ColemanSocial Weaver, Zoo LabsMilicent JohnsonManager, SF Gives at Tipping Point CommunityNikiko MasumotoOrganic Farmer / Agrarian Artist, Masumoto Family FarmJonathan MosconeChief of Civic Engagement,Yerba Buena Center for the ArtsTess PosnerDirector, TechHireDavid RolfPresident, SEIU 775NWIFTF 2015 FellowsIn 2015, six new Future for Good fellows joined IFTF in bringing futures thinking, innovation, and an entrepreneurial sensibility to the urgent futures we all face today.Ashara EkundayoCo-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Impact Hub OaklandNatalie FosterCo-Founder, PeersPia ManciniCo-Founder, Open CollectiveColin MutchlerProduct Manager, Change.orgMelina UncapherCEO & Director of Research, Institute for Applied NeuroscienceTim WestFounder, True West VenturesIFTF 2014 FellowsIn 2014, six Future for Good Fellows joined IFTF in bringing futures thinking, innovation, and an entrepreneurial sensibility to the urgent futures we all face today. Tim HwangPrincipal Investigator, Data& Society Research InstituteWellington NogueiraFounder, Doctors of JoyJessy Kate SchinglerFounding Partner,Open Door Development GroupDrew SullivanJournalist & MediaDevelopment SpecialistRahiel TesfamariamFounder & Publisher, UrbanCusp.comVinitha WatsonCo-Founder & Executive Director of Zoo LabsIFTF 2013 FellowsIn 2013, six Future for Good Fellows joined IFTF in bringing futures thinking, innovation, and an entrepreneurial sensibility to the urgent futures we all face today. Milton ChenSenior Fellow & Executive Director Emeritus, EdutopiaGabriella Gómez-MontDirector, Laboratorio para la CiudadSam GregoryProgram Director, WitnessShannon SpanhakeDeputy Innovation Officer, City and County of San FranciscoDavid ThigpenVice President, Insight CenterAriel WaldmanFounder, Spacehack; Global Instigator, Science Hack Day_38cdd64a-9361-11e7-8ea3-054806856967To build foresight._38cdd866-9361-11e7-8ea3-054806856967InnovationInnovations + Disruptions -- A signal is typically a small or local innovation or disruption that has the potential to grow in scale and geographic distribution. A signal can be a new product, a new practice, a new market strategy, a new policy, or new technology. It can be an event, a local trend, or an organization. It can also be a recently revealed problem or state of affairs. In short, it is something that catches our attention at one scale and in one locale and points to larger implications for other locales or even globally.SignalsSignals are useful for people who are trying to anticipate a highly uncertain future. They tend to capture emergent phenomenon sooner than traditional social science methods. Unlike trends, they turn our attention to possible innovations before they become obvious. Unlike indicators, they often focus our attention at the margins of society rather than the core. In this way, they are more likely to reveal disruptions and innovations. Of course, local trends and indicators can function as signals: when a trend hits a certain threshold, for example, it might be a signal of a change in the larger population, as when an innovation moves beyond the lead user stage and begins to diffuse much more rapidly.ArtifactsArtifacts from the Future -- Tangible, Concrete, Experiential -- Imagine that you could take an archaeologist's expedition to the future to collect objects and fragments of text or photos to understand what daily life will be like in 10, 20, or 50 years. Artifacts from the Future give us this tangible experience of the future. They make the details of a scenario concrete, helping us to understand, almost first-hand, what it will be like to live in a particular future.TangibilityConcretenessExperienceArtifacts from the Future may take dozens of forms, from the familiar bumper sticker to labels for the food we eat to future credit card statements. They can be 3D objects, like product containers, or videos that give us the physical experience of wearing augmented reality glasses as we walk down a street. These familiar objects of everyday life help us translate today's trends and signals into intimate future experiences -- and these experiences, in turn, increase our capacity to draw on our intuitive intelligence when making decisions about the future.IntuitionDiscussionArtifacts from the Future provide a rich starting point for strategic discussions, whether for a new products team in a technical organization or a community group looking for ways to engage young people in building a stake in their own neighborhood.GoalsCreating Artifacts from the Future is also a great way to get people thinking about the future -- their assumptions, their goals, and the path from here to there. TrainingDevelop foresight._38cddaf0-9361-11e7-8ea3-0548068569671Foresight PractitionersForesight Training -- In a world of rapid and constant change, foresight is a core competency that turns managers into leaders and creates organizations that are more resilient, more nimble, and more vibrant. Now IFTF can help you build this core competency and bring it into your own organization -- or the organizations you work with._38cddc08-9361-11e7-8ea3-054806856967Participatory StrategyTransform strategic planning._38cddd16-9361-11e7-8ea3-0548068569672Make the Future with Foresight, Insight, and Action -- In a world of abundant data, ubiquitous social media, and participatory platforms -- where impossible futures can become overnight realities -- traditional strategic planning tools are ripe for transformation. Today, many strategic planning processes remain stuck in the past. Small teams work in silos, isolated from organizational momentum and trapped by institutional inertia. Often they communicate in dense PowerPoint presentations and even denser reports that pale next to the richly visual multimedia of today's daily communication flows in a highly connected population. Even if their plans reach the minds and hearts of their intended audiences, they usually drive sporadic action rather than persistent attention to the change that's needed.IntelligenceProvoke imagination and creativity to tap hidden intelligence._38cdde38-9361-11e7-8ea3-0548068569672.1Step 1: Tap your People -- Every organization has a community of people with hidden, untapped intelligence. Participatory strategy unleashes this intelligence by provoking their imagination and creativity in a collaborative forecasting event using IFTF's Foresight Engine, a social forecasting platform. Over a few days, short video scenarios designed by IFTF inspire hundreds or even thousands of participants to capture their best visions of the future in short forecasts that others can build on. The result is often long chains of thousands of forecasts, synthesized into compelling future themes.DesignDesign your Future_38cddf50-9361-11e7-8ea3-0548068569672.2Step 2: Design your Future -- Building on IFTF scenarios and the collaborative foresight from your community, participatory strategy launches leaders from across your network into a series of foresight studios -- intensive design-the-future sessions that use unique IFTF processes and toolkits to bring desired futures into focus. The outcome is a visual map of the future that organizes the big ideas and can continue to serve as a tool for engaging both internal and external stakeholders.ActionAct Together_38cde068-9361-11e7-8ea3-0548068569672.3Step 3: Act Together -- Participatory strategy builds on community engagement and leadership foresight to support dynamic strategic decisions across the organization -- all aligned with a shared framework. IFTF convenes an immersive event for the larger community with a focus on creating alternative pathways to action, surfacing internal champions at every level and ensuring a greater likelihood of success in the face of changing external conditions. This event sets coordinated action in motion.Learning JourneysEngage in encounters to hack new ways of working, creating, and organizing._38cde19e-9361-11e7-8ea3-0548068569673TechiesArtistsSocial ActivistsTinkerersLearning Journeys: Experience the Future -- As William Gibson famously said, "The future is already here, it's just not evenly distributed." IFTF Learning Journeys are highly interactive, curated encounters with the bits and pieces of the future that are already playing out in the Silicon Valley. As our Executive Director Marina Gorbis writes in "What Makes the Valley Tick" (HBR), the region is about more than the big universities, venture capitalists, and tech companies. It's about the new social practices, small-scale organizations, DIY projects, and emergent communities that come out of the intersection of techies with artists, social activists, and tinkerers, working side by side to hack ways of working, creating, and organizing._38cde2c0-9361-11e7-8ea3-054806856967WorkshopsCreate foresight that leads to insight and shapes action._38cde3d8-9361-11e7-8ea3-0548068569674Philanthropic OrganizationsFrom a Foresight-Insight-Action workshop to inform your strategic planning process to a Remaking Philanthropy workshop to help your philanthropic organization explore the future landscape of giving, IFTF can work collaboratively with your teams, your leaders, your entire organization, or your public to create custom foresight that leads to insight and shapes action in the present.Futures & InsightsProvoke strategic planners to think about alternative futures and uncover relevant insights._38cde5ea-9361-11e7-8ea3-0548068569674.1Strategic PlannersStrategic Planning: Foresight-Insight-Action -- Through our Foresight-Insight-Action workshops, we can assist your strategic planners by provoking them to think about alternative futures, and then helping them uncover relevant insights for their organization or initiatives. By participating in this insight phase of the cycle, they are better able to articulate and agree upon action steps -- and to follow through with them as they transition from strategy to tactics.PrototypingDesign and prototype new impactful offerings._38cde716-9361-11e7-8ea3-0548068569674.2Learning Pathways Workshop: Design + Prototype New Offerings -- How can you use foresight to gain insights that will enable you to make better, more impactful decisions today? Building on ideas from our Future of Learning research, IFTF has developed a provocative workshop process that will help you design and prototype new impactful offerings for the coming decade. Our Learning Pathways Workshop will immerse your organization in the future and help you build new pathways toward greater resilience and innovation.ScenariosDevelop internal scenarios to assess alternative strategic directions. _38cde838-9361-11e7-8ea3-0548068569674.3Scenario Development: Strategic Exploration -- In addition to foresight scenarios that depict a range of alternative outside-in futures, IFTF can work with you to develop internal scenarios that help you assess alternative strategic directions for your organization, such as alternative approaches to intellectual property or alternative health care policies. For these scenarios, we can bring all of our creative media skills to bear, from digital video stories that capture a day-in-the-life to custom artifacts of the future.GroupsFacilitate group processes._38cde982-9361-11e7-8ea3-0548068569674.4Work GroupsCustom Workshops: Content Facilitation -- We bring foresight to the workshop setting and facilitate group processes that achieve your goals. We can design workshop agendas and lead groups to embed foresight into your decision-making styles. We practice many different workshop processes, including design charettes, open meetings, and hack days -- and we can incorporate elements of each of these into your custom workshop.EventsBring foresight to public policy discussions._38cdeab8-9361-11e7-8ea3-0548068569674.5Local Policy OrganizationsRegional Policy OrganizationsNational Policy OrganizationsExpertsPublic Events: From Foresight to Policy -- IFTF can bring foresight to public policy discussions at the local, regional or national level. We can convene the right experts, provide the foresight frameworks, and get people talking about the way forward -- whether the topic is the future of health, education, work, or governance, and beyond.Presentations & White PapersMake presentations and develop white papers._38cdebe4-9361-11e7-8ea3-0548068569674.6Speeches, Presentations, and White Papers: Topical Foresight -- IFTF staff are frequently called on to give topic-oriented presentations or develop white papers on topics of particular interest to an organization or community. These presentations build on our foundational research in core programs, such as Ten-Year Forecast, Technology Horizons, and Health Horizons.SignalsDiscern big future trends emerging from weak signals._38cded38-9361-11e7-8ea3-0548068569675Signals-Based Forecasting: The Future in the Present -- In a time of rapid innovation, signals of change are all around us. The challenge is to see the big future trends that emerge from these "weak signals." To discern these larger patterns, we need frameworks. These frameworks help us collate and categorize signals.Collation & CategorizationCollate and categorize signals._38cdee6e-9361-11e7-8ea3-0548068569675.1EthnographyUse ethnographic observation and interviews to uncover the hidden meanings of emerging tools and practices._38cdefb8-9361-11e7-8ea3-0548068569676Department of Anthropology at San Jose State UniversitySeveral of our staff are trained in anthropology, and we collaborate regularly with Jan English-Lueck and the Department of Anthropology at San Jose State University to build a global database of ethnographic observations.Jan English-LueckEthnographic Foresight: Themes That Matter -- IFTF was an early leader in using ethnographic observation and interviews to go beyond the obvious and uncover the hidden meanings of emerging tools and practices. We anticipated many of the themes that shaped the diffusion of computing and the Internet into homes of people all over the world. Early on, we recognized from in-home interviews the importance of personal health ecologies that have come to define the broad consumer health economy of today._38cdf120-9361-11e7-8ea3-054806856967VisionsInterview experts and bring them together to construct shared scenarios._38cdf260-9361-11e7-8ea3-0548068569677ExpertsPractical VisionariesExpert Voices: Aggregated Visions -- Experts have a very special part to play in envisioning the various futures that might shape our lives in ten to twenty years. They have depth of understanding and experience in the many substrates of the future: technology, medicine, science, finance, environment, and even religion. Among our favorite experts are those we call "practical visionaries." These are people who are working in the trenches to make a new future, drawing on visions that stem from -- and, in turn, shape -- their practical innovations. We may interview experts individually or bring them together for a day or longer to help them think together and construct shared scenarios from their divergent viewpoints._38cdf396-9361-11e7-8ea3-054806856967InterfaceDesign a human-future interface to tap into the power of the future to help make decisions today._38cdf526-9361-11e7-8ea3-0548068569678Designing the Future: The Human-Futures Interface -- Just as we need a human-computer interface to tap the power of computing in everything from our phones to our thermostats, we need a human-future interface to tap into the power of the future to help us make decisions today. At IFTF, we are working to create this interface by designing Artifacts from the Future and experiences that let us experience the future viscerally in the present. These design projects demand more than just the "facts" about the future._38cdf670-9361-11e7-8ea3-0548068569672017-09-06http://www.iftf.org/what-we-do/who-we-are/OwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net