Lindsay Angelo, Futurist, Strategist, TEDx Speaker
The future is female. This cliché phrase has been used to promote the idea that women will be leading and shaping our society in the decades to come. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in futurism by both men and women alike. Yet questions remain - why are so few futurists female? What is a futurist? Who are the leading futurists? And who are some of the top Canadian female futurists?
So, let's start with: what is a Futurist?
A futurist is a person who studies and forecasts the future. Futurists take in all types of information, synthesize it into something useful for companies or society, and make decisions on what that new data means for tomorrow's world. They are constantly scanning the world around them for future trends - business trends, environmental trends, consumer and cultural trends - that act as signals. They are problem solvers with expertise in various disciplines that can include: the future of consumerism and consumer tech, the future of retail, the future of technology and artificial intelligence, the future of finance, the future of politics, the future of science and environmental science, the future of cities and smart cities, the future of community development, the future of education, the future of universities, the future of housing, the future of innovation, the future of social justice, the future of civic engagement, the future of telecom, the future of warfare, the future of urban development, the future of human development, organizational futures. There's even such a thing as a quantitative futurist, customer experience futurist, technology futurist, the list goes on.
A variety of topics can be covered by futurists - it's an expansive career and one that can take either a long-term view or shorter-term view. A burgeoning field, the past decade has seen a rise in technology futurists and customer experience futurists as emerging specialties.
Futurists have varied backgrounds - depending on the discipline or area of focus, you'll find some with a background in economics, others with a background in business, others with a background in medicine and even a background in education. All have one thing in common - strategic foresight.
So how do futurists deliver their insights? Generally speaking, futurists are hired by companies to deliver their insights via keynotes, workshops and/or tailored advising or consulting engagements. Often they use foresight tools, processes and methods to help along the way. Learn more about what a futurist is here.
What is Futurism?
You may also hear the term, Futurism, to describe the space. Futurism is the study of what will happen in the future.
It's basically the field that helps us imagine and understand the implications of how our decisions today might affect where we are tomorrow. Futurism has existed for as long as humans have. Although it's evolved, in its simplest form, Futurism focuses on contemplating the future. Futurism will always exist and some would argue it's more important now than ever. Futurism can be leaned on to help solve the current issues we face as a society. Futurism can unlock a better way of existing. Futurism can be used to mitigate against another global pandemic or global crisis unfolding. It can be used in combination with both science and art.
It isn't the end all be all, but Futurism is a powerful tool in our box. At its core, Futurism is about planning and building a better tomorrow.
What do Futurists Believe?
Futurists have a variety of perspectives on future possibilities for our society. They look at connected technologies; cultural and consumer trends such as aging demographics and climate change; where we might be headed based on current decisions (e.g., pandemic, economic policy, environment, etc.). Some futurists will focus on a specific area, while others are generalists.
Futurists work with clients to help them make sense of their future. They provide perspective on trends and potential consequences, new technologies such as artificial intelligence or robotics; they also generate ideas for the organization's strategy in an uncertain world.
The key goal of a futurist is not predicting specific outcomes - there are too many variables involved which change over time - but understanding how unfolding changes will affect us and then providing guidance based on that. Therefore there is not a singular belief system a futurist embodies.
How do you practice futuristic thinking?
Disregard predictions. Why? Because no one can predict or knows what the future holds - not even the award-winning futurists. One can only speculate.
Focus on signals - not just strong ones but weak ones. They are everywhere - in your daily encounters, conversations, on the news, in the latest and greatest top-selling books. If you tune in, patterns will become evident.
Keep up to current events - news, media, books, audio books, trends fodder, articles - being a news junky is a must!
Learn from history - as the adage goes, it provides clues on the future.
Create an ecosystem - of both like and non-like-minded people. The combination will stretch your thinking.
Lastly, be present - every moment is an opportunity to discover, observe and reflect.
So, where are all the female futurists?
Why aren't there more women futurists? The futurist profession has long been dominated by Caucasian males in their 40s - 50s while female futurists are in short supply. Only one to three percent of female professionals identify themselves as futures thinkers and women represent only about 20% of the workforce overall. Women also make up less than five percent of those who have been nominated for or won awards in the field of futurism.
The lack of women entering the profession and carving out a career has resulted in fewer women thinking about what’s coming next. This isn’t just an issue within futuristic thinking or business - it extends into other areas where we need savvy and strategic foresight: politics (less than 25% of seats on Canadian federal parliament occupied by women), science (women make up less than 20% of researchers in the field of science) and technology (far fewer females are enrolling in computer sciences).
However, the gender divide is slowly starting to change as we start to invest in a future that is female.
In Europe, the European Institute of Women’s Studies has launched their first project to map and analyze female futurists across all 28 EU countries.
The UCL Centre for Digital Humanities in London is opening a new postgraduate MA program with courses focused on ‘Feminist Futures’ that will explore gender foresight as well as other futurism aspects such as migration, race and climate change. Within the futurism realm, gender is a conversation that has ignited many great minds.
So, who are the leading female futurists?
Here are some visionary leaders paving the future of futurism, no pun intended.
Lindsay Angelo, Growth Strategist & MBA
Named a top innovation leader and Woman to Watch Lindsay Angelo is 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, MBA and consultant with a thumb on the pulse of consumer trends, she can be found hitting TEDx and other stages across North America to deliver keynotes on the future of consumerism and innovation.
Fabienne Goux-Baudiment
Fabienne Goux-Baudiment, a futures speaker, studies and speaks about how climate change, culture and people need to evolve. She partners with many different organizations like governments, companies or businesses in order to help them activate her work while also shedding light on the future of these topics.
Susan Cox-Smith
Susan Cox-Smith is a Dutch futurist who helps organizations, companies and governments prepare for the future through research and storytelling. She got her start on “How to Future”, which helps companies create teams that can succeed in the years to come and make powerful strategic decisions.
Gayemarie Brown
Gayemarie Brown helps worldwide companies and businesses use emerging technologies to update their business models for the future. She is a futures speaker on digital transformation and disruption, especially the future of AI, robotics and blockchain.
Maria Konovalenko
Using new technology to make people healthier, Maria Konovalenko uses her scientific background to examine the future of aging, including artificial intelligence, cell therapy and regenerative medicine trends. She partners with Governments and companies.
Anne Lise Kjaer
Anne Lise Kjaer’s organization focuses on business and communications trend forecasting for global corporations. She encourages organizations and companies to look towards the future with trend management and to create a more inclusive economy.
So, who are some of the top Canadian female futurists?
Here's are a few Canadian female futurists rocking the red and white:
Lindsay Angelo, Growth Strategist and Futurist, TEDx Speaker, Women to Watch and Global Innovation Leader, Canadian
Alexandra Samuel, Founder of Velocity Inc., Futurist and author of Crowdsourcing or How the Internet is Changing What We Do as a Society (Wiley Press), Canadian
Tamara Wiens, Executive Director for Engineers Without Borders Canada, Canadian
Andrea Mrozek, founder of Women in Vision Institute (WIVI), Canadian
Julia Chang Bloch, President & Chief Operating Officer at CAE, Canadian
Elle Lanning - Director at IOGA Media + Technology Solutions Inc., Founder at Elle Lanning Group (ELG), Canadian
Cat Tully, a Canadian futurist, is an award-winning writer, consultant and speaker who specializes in exploring social change through cultural empathy.
These female futurists work across multiple sectors and with a mix of organizations, companies and businesses. Some are even award-winning futurists. Although they're Canadian, most of their work spans the globe. Through paving the way, one can only hope that another generation of futurists will follow in their wake, creating an inspired collective future for generations to come.
Looking for a female futurist to advise, consult or speak to your organization? Contact Lindsay here. Interested in becoming a futurist? Download our top 30 futurists pdf below and gain pre-launch access to our newest offering for aspiring female futurists.
About the Author
Lindsay is an award-winning Futurist, Strategist and TEDx Speaker. Named a global innovation leader and Women to Watch, you will find her at the intersection of foresight, strategy and innovation. When she’s not collaborating with clients, she’s hitting TEDx and other stages across North America to deliver keynotes on the future of consumerism, culture and purpose-driven strategy. Prior to consulting, Lindsay spent six years at lululemon crafting their global growth strategy, exploring new marketplace opportunities and growing the company into the number one yoga wear player in the world. 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.
