The top 50 leading female futurists from around the Globe
In response to a flurry of demand, this is a follow-up to a post titled "Where are all the female futurists?". We dive into the top fifty female futurists leading the way in 2022 along with their backgrounds and experiences. Buckle-up!
Female futurists shape the future. More than ever, businesses are hiring futurists to provoke a vision of what could happen in their respective industries. Futurists range from sci-fi writers like Isaac Asimov (whose books inspired Elon Musk's companies) and Faith Popcorn who works with corporations on predicting business futures. In 1991, she predicted that "humanoid robots" would become companions and workers; suffice to say, her predictions were right.
The list of female futurists is not long compared to the list of male futurists, and many of the following appeared on Forbes' female futures list some time ago. The female voice has been absent from the conversation for centuries due to a lack of representation in decision-making bodies like governments and corporations; women are finally stepping up to shape our future. They are sharing their unique perspectives on global challenges and technological innovations every day.
Recently, females have been making their mark by joining the ranks of futurists and business leaders. Roughly one-third of members in the Association for Professional Futurism are now female.
Albeit long overdue, women’s voices are finally being heard.
The future is coming, and it's up to us to decide what kind of world we want. In order for that decision to be possible, the women listed here are going through all scenarios in their heads so that we can prepare accordingly. This list was designed to illuminate the incredible female minds all over the globe working to solve problems and create a better future. For those looking at hosting conferences or engaging futurists, this group will help provide a feel for how things could unfold down the road.
One thing is for certain - the future is female.
Without further adieu, here are the top 50 female futurists.
The top 50 female futurists leading the way
The 50 women in this list are shaping the world and encouraging other females to join, keeping the field gender diverse for generations to come.
Lindsay Angelo is a top innovation leader, TEDx Speaker, and Woman to Watch. She's a strategic futurist who partners with a wide range of purpose-driven brands, business leaders, companies, and organizations to craft their strategies while illuminating a future where business is an agent for change. An impact speaker and consultant with a thumb on the pulse of consumer and industry trends, she can be found hitting global stages to deliver keynotes on the future of consumerism. Born and raised in Canada and a dual citizen of the US, she's one of few Canadian Futurists and now shares her time between Seattle, WA, and Vancouver, Canada.
Amy Webb is not only changing the world, but she's making it better. Forbes recognized her as one of their "Women Changing The World." Amy Webb has a degree from NYU and founded Future Today Institute in 2006 which provides foresight to help organizations prepare for complex futures. A Quantitative Futurist, Amy delivers foresight that helps these Fortune 100 companies foresee what might happen so they can be prepared now.
Cindy Frewen is the foremost architect and urban futurist of our time. She has created buildings that grow with people, explores the future of cities, community development, and smart cities - how they will evolve as they become more prosperous than ever before, designs sustainable structures for communities of all kinds to thrive within them, and consults on what architecture can do when it works together with technology. An Award-Winning Futurist, Cindy is also a sought-after keynote speaker who speaks about her work at conferences around the world from Dubai to Paris; she's been awarded by prestigious institutions like UNESCO for her innovative thinking and creativity every step along this journey.
Amy Zalman is a story-telling strategist with an arsenal of wit, insight, and strategic foresight. She's worked around the world, helping governments and companies alike to see their way through communications challenges by using storytelling as her guiding principle for strategy development.
Madeline Ashby is a science fiction writer and author of three books. Her novels "Company Town," "Inexorable" and the recent release, “Nexaland” are about robots gone wild, and nanotechnology in our skies but her most-recent book reveals where she thinks we're headed: to Nexaland. Her Strategic Foresight continues to amaze many. Who knows, maybe we'll see Science Fiction Prototypes in her next piece?!
Erica Orange is a one-woman revolutionary. Erica's keen eye for business trends and her ability to see the future of big business have made her an asset at The Future Hunters, where she identifies changes in demographics like Millennials and women who are empowered by their careers as well as new technology that can create better ways for humans to interact with machines.
Shara Evans is a telecom expert, with an expansive career that has provided the foundation to look towards the future of Telecom and the future technology in Australia and around the world. Her focus on robotics, cybercrime, and consumer tech allows her to take advantage of every opportunity for innovation as they arise.
Why all the seriousness? Nancy Giordano wants to help organizations become more sustainable and beneficial to society by combining the technology of tomorrow with business practices. Her goal is for these companies not only to survive but thrive in a future that includes tech innovations such as artificial intelligence or autonomous cars. The Future of Tech and the Future of Innovation are her passions.
Tessa Finlev is an expert in developing sustainable systems to solve the world's problems. She works at the intersection of cultural change, diversity, and inclusion with a witty tone to create positive social change for everyone.
The next generation of futurists could be in the hands of Kristin Alford, and she has a few tricks up her sleeves to make that happen. Her passion for sustainability is something you can feel through each word, as it radiates from every inch of this woman’s being into an empowering stance towards change.
Mei-Mei Song is a professor and leader in the field of global education. Her work has been groundbreaking because she's helping to shape future teachers, educators, and universities around the world as technology becomes more integrated into our lives. Futures studies have never been more important.
Fabienne Goux-Baudiment, with a passion for the future of education and training new futurists, studies and speaks on a variety of topics ranging from climate change to robots. Her work has been applied to numerous government organizations as well as businesses that want an insight into how cultures will evolve in the coming years.
Susan Cox-Smith is an expert in combining research with storytelling to prepare for the future and make strategic decisions. With her company called “How To Future,” she helps organizations like healthcare or technology create teams and structures that will survive into our next era of time.
Offering a unique perspective on how we can be prepared for anything when it comes to what's happening around us, Susan has proven herself as someone who won't stop speaking up about those things at risk of being lost forever."
Gayemarie Brown wants to help you escape the robot takeover with her expertise in digital transformation. She's a global speaker on AI (Artificial Intelligence), robotics, and blockchain who has more than 25 years of experience helping companies update their business models for 2020+.
After witnessing her father's death, Maria Konovalenko has dedicated her life to the study of aging. With a scientific background and background in medicine, she believes that science and technology will create a future where people can live longer and happier lives than ever before thanks to scientific advancements in AI, cell therapy, and regenerative medicine.
Anne Lise Kjaer is not afraid to look towards the future, constantly researching and forecasting trends that will impact global corporations. Her organization encourages companies to establish mindful leaders who can create a more inclusive economy for all employees with every decision they make. Trend forecasting is her specialty.
Faith Popcorn is a vocal advocate for female empowerment and has been called the “Nostradamus of Marketing” by Fortune Magazine. She forecasts future trends and consumer patterns in numerous industries, all while looking to the future as "She-change."
Ufuk Tarhan is an expert with a background in Economics and IT who helps companies come up with strategies to create a strong future. Based out of Istanbul, she's also created Future Day - which she hopes will be a national public holiday dedicated to discussions about our shared future. Ufuk Tarhan has traveled around Europe consulting on economic strategy while simultaneously becoming involved in cultural activities like running arts workshops and curating art exhibitions across her home country Turkey as well as different parts of Western Europe. She's now taking all that experience back to her native land where she works at IDEA Consultancy alongside other young entrepreneurs drawn from diverse backgrounds such as engineering or computer science fields!
Elina Hiltunen's life work is to anticipate the future. As a futurist, she focuses on technology, weak signals, and how they may change society. She has created tools for organizations that allow them to adapt as technology changes around us
Youngsook Park is a rising star in the design world as she focuses her efforts on social justice and human development, keeping the future in mind. She's been training students and organizations for many years, educating them about housing trends to come and all things the future of housing and design futures. She's established programs that prepare South Korea for potential future issues - an admirable feat considering they're one of the most technologically advanced countries today!
Cecily Sommers, a future pioneer, and founder of the think tank Global Trend Institute (GTi), is more than just an expert in her field. A medical background paired with extensive experience as a dancer has fostered Cecily's love for innovation. Her passion led to GTi which seeks out innovative solutions that tackle global issues -- like climate change or dwindling natural resources-- while considering how these developments will shape our society over time.
Alexandra Whittington is a woman on the rise. She teaches Forecasting for Technology Entrepreneurship at the University of Houston, and her focus in her lectures is social issues affecting families, education, and gender roles. With the support of corporations like Exxon Mobil Corporation or non-profit groups such as Habitat For Humanity International, she has been able to prepare them for future changes to come so that they can be successful now while preparing themselves for what's next!
Jennifer Gidley is a visionary thinker and one of few visionary leaders, with a background in education and psychology. Her work focuses on raising awareness about the changes that will be needed for youth education and for youth to live sustainably. She also brings attention to ocean conservation issues due to climate change.
Maree Conway is a foresight consultant that spends her time advising on the future of education and the future universities. As an organization, they help professionals in government or education plan for their futures by re-framing strategic conversations about these topics using foresight.
Catarina Tully also known as Cat Tully is a futurist, public speaker, and author. She has served on the UK's Cabinet Office Futures Programme Advisory Group advising government leaders about long-term strategic planning for national security issues as well as providing advisory services to U.S., Canadian and Australian governments in similar capacities. Cat also trains people in business leadership positions to use foresight tools that will help them adapt when change happens - especially if they've been blindsided by it before!
Extended List (sourced from: Forbes):
Heather E. McGowan, futurist and author of The Adaptation AdvantageApril Rinne, lawyer, futurist and former Strategy Officer
Ayelet Baron, speaker, Canadian Futurist and former Chief Strategy Officer at Cisco Canada
Emily Empel, former workforce futurist at Disney Company
Cathy Hackl, technology futurist
Elatia Abate, Stanford professor and futurist with a deep knowledge about human capital management
Esther Dyson , chairman of EDventure Holdings (acceleratin start-ups) and journalist.
Lisa Bodell--founder & CEO of FutureThink
Maddy Dychtwald--author who has cofounded Age Wave an organization that specializes in meeting the needs for older workers. She focuses on Organizational Futures
Crystal Washington—technology strategist from Socialtunities
Sierra Modro—manager within Amazon Web Services
Karen Sands, futurist who focuses on gender diversity, people and the workforce
Joyce Gioia , Celebrity Futurist, Clinical Professor of Innovation
Eleonora Barbieri Masini , professor of Social Forecasting
Tracey Follows , founder of Futuremade Ltd and futurist
Marina Gorbis, Institute for the Future Executive Director
Cynthia G. Wagner, AAI Foresight
Dana Klisanin, CEO of Evolutionary Guidance Media R&D
Yvette Montero Salvatico, Kedge LLC
Sheryl Connelly, futuring and global trends, Ford Company
Sari Stenfors, Augmented Leadership Institute Futurist
Claire A. Nelson Ph.D., The Futures Forum
Maya Van Leemput, researcher, Erasmushogeschool Brussel
Jody Turner, The Marketing Arm trendwatcher
Guillermina Baena Paz, National Autonomous University of Mexico Professor
Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist and speaker. She is also the the author of the book, 'The Customer Of The Future' and 'More is More: How The Best Companies Work Harder And Go Farther To Create Knock Your Socks Off Customer Experiences.' Blake also works at Columbia University and is a Rutgers MBA program adjunct faculty. She is one of few touted a "Customer Experience Futurist".
Looking for a list of Canadian futurists?
Check out this link.
Looking for a Futurist keynote for your next event?
Contact Lindsay to learn more about how she can help!
About the Author
Lindsay Angelo is the founder of Futurist-in-50-days, supporting impact-driven professionals, teams and organizations in learning to think and lead into the future. She's also a practicing and award-winning Futurist, Strategy Consultant, MBA and TEDx speaker. She's advised Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, think tanks, and celebrities - all the while creating a nomadic lifestyle rooted in travel, family and community. Named a Woman to Watch and Global Innovation Leader, Lindsay's delivered over 100+ keynotes and has worked with organizations including lululemon, Unilever, the LEGO Group, Snapchat and the Human Potential Institute. Her experiences culminate in what she refers to as her sweet spot - where strategy, innovation and foresight intersect, where the rational meets the emotive, where facts meet insights and where logic meets creativity.
