IFTF Foresight Essentials

Research Director Sara Skvirsky brings a diverse background in the fields of education, community organizing, and social justice advocacy to her work at Institute for the Future. Passionate about bringing the tools and methodologies of foresight to individuals, communities, and organizations, Sara developed and launched IFTF Foresight Essentials in 2014, with the inauguration of its flagship training and toolkit. She has gone on to become the program’s lead instructor, spearheading the group’s digital transformation and experimenting with new formats for participant engagement with futures thinking. In addition to that role, Sara has spent much of the past decade leading IFTF’s future of learning research, working with governments, educational institutions, corporations, foundations, and nonprofits globally to understand the shifting landscapes of education and work. She has delivered keynotes around the world. Before arriving at IFTF Sara lived and worked in Latin America and Spain for many years, where she worked to establish a youth leadership and community development programming. She holds a B.A. in Latin American Studies and Spanish from Oberlin College.

At IFTF, Gabe Cervantes helps lead custom forecasts, IFTF Foresight Essentials trainings, and speaking engagements across various industries and sectors. A leading strategist in scaling foresight, Gabe works closely with large organizations to help them foster an environment that encourages the development and application of foresight among the next generation of future leaders and top-tier leadership. Before joining IFTF, Gabe helped startups in Silicon Valley understand consumer needs to develop stronger sales and go-to-market strategies. Forgoing a career in law, he leaned into his training as a diasporas scholar from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where he earned a Bachelor's Degree in American Studies with a dual focus on Latino/a and Africana Studies. Gabe shares his learnings pro bono with communities of color and individuals who are the first in their families to attend college.

Susanne Forchheimer is responsible for providing research management for IFTF’s Emerging Media Lab(EML). Her core research focus includes looking at the impact of emerging technologies and how they affect communication, information-sharing, and collaboration between humans. She also researches and analyzes trends in user behavior and development to assist the IFTF community in assembling insights, policy, and products that take into account emergent social behaviors and cultural dynamics. In addition to her work in the EML, Susanne also teaches IFTF’s foresight essential courses. She holds a B.S. and M.S. in Media Technology Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, as well as a M.P.S. in Interactive Telecommunications from New York University.

Jacques Barcia is an award-winning journalist, author and futurist. His core interests are in the futures of narratives and the narratives about the futures. He holds a masters in Design and is one of the co-founders of Futuring Today, a network that blends foresight, design, and science fiction to prototype the futures.

Jacques is the futurist-in-residence of Brazilian non-profit science and technology park Porto Digital (www.portodigital.org), where he helps startups innovate for the the next decade. He’s also a fellow at the Centre For Postnormal Policy and Futures Studies (www.cppfs.org) and teaches Design Futures at Cesar School (www.cesar.school).

Jacques has written on technology, economics, crime, and human rights for newspapers in Brazil. He has researched on a range of futures topics such as energy, work, entrepreneurship, cities, media, and grief. Jacques’s fiction has been featured in Shine: An Anthology of Optimistic Science Fiction and The Apex Book of World Science Fiction; and has appeared in magazines such as Clarkesworld and Electric Velocipede.

Program Director Rod Falcon co-leads the IFTF Vantage Partnership. Rod has served in several capacities at IFTF, including leading its Food Futures and Health Futures programs as well as leading research for IFTF’s Tech Futures program. He speaks to executive audiences, helping them find innovative strategies for participating in the global economy. His research areas include personal health technologies, communication and messaging practices, social networks and abundant connectivity, and health-aware environments. Born in Oakland, California, Rod attended UC Berkeley, earning a BA in American history and an MA in public policy. After working to enforce the Voting Rights Act for the Justice Department, he came to IFTF in 1995 to forecast the future of the California health care safety net. He brings a deep background in public health policy and extensive experience directing research and teams.

Artistic Director of Young Gifted and Black
Senior Partner at Edutainment for Equity

Hodari B. Davis is the Artistic Director of the award-winning youth performance ensemble Young Gifted and Black and a senior partner at Edutainment for Equity. Hodari served as the National Program Director for Youth Speaks for over 11 years, including as the Executive Producer and Key Organizer of the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Festival and Network. He was also the Executive Producer and Creative Director of the Life is Living campaign and the Bigger Picture Project. His extensive experience as an educator and arts administrator has made him a leader in the field and a sought-after speaker and pedagogue. He has presented his work and pedagogy in countries around the world including Iran, Malta, Spain, Ghana, and London. He has organized events in the most prestigious theaters in the United States including The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. As an artist, he writes poetry, makes films and manages two musical performance groups Antique Naked Soul and Candice Antique.

Toshi leads IFTF’s Emerging Media Lab (EML), where he explores the implications of the rapidly evolving technologies and platforms that transform human communication. He has worked on a wide range of cutting-edge experiential media projects utilizing interactive and immersive technologies such as A/R and V/R. Under his direction, the EML serves as a prototyping studio, an independent research group, and an active participant in the continually evolving relationship between humans and the sophisticated media systems they create.

Toshi’s work explores not only the direct applications of emerging technologies but also the wider implications and impact on individuals, organizations, and society at large. Prior to joining IFTF, Toshi served as media technology consultant for famed futurist Ray Kurzweil, with whom he produced live VR demonstrations for the TED stage and co-directed the feature-length documentary “The Singularity is Near” based on Kurzweil’s best-selling book. Toshi studied film at Mass College of Art and Design and religion at Bryn Athyn College.

Digital Experiences Manager Teffera G. Teffera explores new media and online technologies relevant to IFTF’s staff, partners, stakeholders, and public audiences. He tinkers with creative and collaborative technologies that enhance the organization’s use of digital tools for storytelling and facilitation, translating IFTF’s works into engaging and memorable experiences. Prior to joining IFTF, he worked at the Voice of America and at the U.S. Agency for Global Media, serving as a multimedia producer, managing editor, and digital media strategist. Teffera’s storytelling and research covered African audiences across 14 languages, with a focus on youth, technology, and digital platforms usage and internet circumvention trends. His research interests include AI-enabled media, internet balkanization, and the development of digital public infrastructures. Teffera received a double B.A. in International Relations and Economics from Syracuse University and an M.A in Applied Cybernetics from the Australian National University.

IFTF Director Dylan Hendricks produces IFTF’s Ten-Year Forecast, the public expression of IFTF’s foundational research. Dylan brings strategic imagination and a whole-systems perspective to his work across the Institute, facilitating and synthesizing diverse perspectives and disciplines to better understand and communicate the macro forces that are transforming our lives, our organizations, and our communities. Before joining IFTF full-time in 2012, Dylan had a previous career in media production, working closely with innovative tech companies and nonprofits to better tell their stories. Dylan has a BA in Psychology and Comparative Religion from Bryn Athyn College, and has helped dozens of world-class universities, corporations and civic organizations to strategically explore the future landscape in his decade of experience at IFTF. Dylan’s original design framework, Systems Mythology, has been taught to thousands of students, executives, and foresight practitioners around the world, and formally recognized by the Association of Professional Futurists.

As a research director at IFTF, Ben uses insights from his background in journalism covering issues of race and inequality to explore how well-being is shaped by social and environmental contexts. He has researched the future of food technology, environments that enhance well-being, and the design of healthy places; he has an ongoing interest in narrative and health, the meaning of place, and equity and social justice. In addition to his work at IFTF, Ben contributes to the Nichi Bei Weekly and edits the National Japanese American Historical Society’s official magazine, Nikkei Heritage. Ben believes that short-term thinking is a major cause of today’s social inequity and that foresight is critical to successful social change and effective governance. His upbringing in the diverse socioeconomic conditions of the San Francisco Bay Area inspired his interest in issues of race, class, and social justice. He spent half a decade covering these issues as a journalist at Youth Outlook, New American Media, and the Nichi Bei Times before coming to IFTF in 2011. Ben holds a B.A. in Cinema from San Francisco State University.

IFTF Research Manager Nathalie Lopez manages a diverse portfolio of health and social research projects. As part of her work, she examines social patterns and gathers insights from personal and group interviews to inform futures thinking. Before joining IFTF, Nathalie worked for Mujeres Unidas y Activas, a grassroots organization focused on building community power for social and economic justice. Prior to that, she worked as a project coordinator at the David Geffen Medical School at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), supporting federally funded projects involving trauma-informed care and the juvenile justice system. Nathalie holds a Master of Public Health in Health and Social Behavior from University of California, Berkeley and a B.S. in Human Biology and Society from UCLA.

Sami has been involved in shaping the online and mobile worlds since the 1990s. From building the early online commerce and banking platforms in North America and Europe, Sami then spent several years with various aspects of the mobile business, from application development to network systems research for Nokia in Finland.

Since 2009, Sami has lived in Australia and until recently worked for Telstra Corporation in various roles spanning from mobile subject matter expert, CEO Communications to Innovation Program Management. He also created and led the Strategic Foresight practice for several years, focusing on long-term technology and related trends and how they impact the business, industry, and society at large.

Sami holds an MSc degree in Computer Science from the University of Helsinki. His current research interests include the impact of automation on skill degradation, complex systems, and architecting for resilience.