Institute For The Future

How I Became a Futurist: Foresight Practitioner Origin Stories

“Growing up, it was never a dream of mine to become a futurist,” says Susanne Forchheimer, a Research Manager at IFTF. “I didn’t even know it existed...

News From the Future #69

Become an Urgent Optimist!

The Great Imagination: A Futures Exhibit with an Urgent Message

Think of the last time you visited a museum. What kind of experience was it for you? Did it lead you to interrogate ideas we hold of the past,...

Rise of the PriestBots: Innovation at the Edge of Faith and Meaning in the Church

The Reverend Lorenzo Lebrija is the founding director of TryTank, a laboratory for innovation in the Church (particularly the Episcopal church) and an...

IFTF's Equitable Enterprise Initiative Newsletter: Issue #4

We hear from our advisor Astra Taylor about her groundbreaking work with the Debt Collective.

News from the Future #67

The Future is a Place For Hope: A year-end message from IFTF Executive Director Marina Gorbis

IFTF Equitable Enterprise Initiative Newsletter #3

This week we're exploring a history of money and banking and a future of digital distributism with EEI advisor Douglas Rushkoff....

Meet Research Director Jeff Yang!

Jeff Yang is mostly based in Los Angeles, but because he’s originally from New York, says he’s always going to be a New Yorker—because that’s just...

News from the Future #66

What will the future of civic leadership look like?

IFTF’s new Mayor in Residence

Meet Christopher Cabaldon!

The Future of Food in the New Operating Environment

In an unintentionally absurd turn of events, consumers in 2020 were surprised to find a bag of...

Dipping into Science Fiction to Create More Nuanced Forecasts

In the realm of food futures, we often joke that if you follow any foresight process far enough, you inevitably end up predicting the same tired...

News from the Future #65

Re-evaluation & Reinvention: Keys to Success in the Coming Decade

IFTF Equitable Enterprise Initiative Newsletter #2

Solidarity & Cooperative Economics and African American Co-ops in History

Meet Director of Philanthropy and Foresight Charles Tsai!

Charles Tsai lives in Vancouver, and brings his deep experience in philanthropy to IFTF—a field that he believes is due for some big, structural...

News from the Future #64

IFTF announces our newest research directors!

2021 Ten-Year Forecast Summit Highlights

What does K-pop fandom tell us about the future of belonging, the shifting of competitive dynamics in business, and the long-term prospects for...

Meet Research Director Rebecca Shamash!

She brings to IFTF her expertise in critical analysis and social impact, particularly around mitigating economic, gender, and racial...

Meet Research Director Leah Zaidi!

Leah Zaidi has lived in Canada since the age of six, and brings to IFTF her extensive expertise in marketing, foresight...

Building Forecasts on the Future of Architecture and Design

*The following is a guest post by Mark Bryan, an alumnus of IFTF Foresight Essentials....

Revisiting Dune: Insights for Foresight Practitioners

*Spoiler alert: The following contains spoilers regarding the book Dune by Frank Herbert (1965)....

IFTF Equitable Enterprise Initiative Newsletter #1

Read about the initiative. Meet the advisors. Scan the signals.

Freedom Dreaming: Calvin Williams Answers Your Questions on Afrofuturism

How can we think about the future outside the social construct of time? How can we create narratives that imagine new possible realities rather than...