April 11, 2024, Palo Alto, Calif.— Institute for the Future (IFTF) in partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), a leading philanthropic organization committed to creating a future where all children and families thrive, are proud to announce the release of a transformative new strategic foresight map, "Lighting Up the Future for Children.” Produced by IFTF in partnership with WKKF, the map aims to be a strategic resource to align stakeholders within the child-centered ecosystem to connect their present-day work with a more future-ready, longer-term vision of thriving children and families.
One of the core values of the Kellogg Foundation is embracing community-led visions and approaches. Through this partnership with IFTF, we spent a year enhancing our ability to listen to our communities and lean into their deeply-held visions for the future, and fostering foresight and futures thinking among our staff, grantees, and external partners to better prepare us to address the challenges and opportunities of the next decade together.Carla Thompson Payton, Chief Strategist and Impact Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Unlike traditional planning approaches that primarily focus on addressing immediate issues, this foresight map goes further by identifying external trends, forces, risks, and opportunities that we are likely to face on the path to a more child-centered future. The map features ten forecasts for the year 2035, describing potential outcomes based on various strategic choices and actions that stakeholders may take over the next decade, within the broader context of social, natural and technological changes that are already influencing our present conditions. By projecting the potential impacts of short- and long-term actions over a ten-year horizon, the map encourages changemakers in the child-centered ecosystem to consider the broader implications of their decisions on communities, taking into account community agency and power, and the rate at which conditions for children, families, and communities may improve.
This foresight map is not merely a speculative exercise, but a guide based on the signals we are seeing today combined with participatory foresight research and methods to help support more informed choices. It is intentionally designed not only to spark conversations, but to catalyze strategic planning and interventions aimed at improving the lives of children in the future.Marina Gorbis, Executive Director, Institute for the Future
Lighting Up the Future for Children: Balancing urgent needs and future opportunities
Lighting Up the Future for Children, produced by Institute for the Future, is the result of a partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to identify the emerging opportunities and vulnerabilities facing children, families, and communities over the next decade. The aim of this work is to help the philanthropic sector, policymakers, and thought leaders identify potential opportunities for lasting, transformational change in the lives of all children in the future.
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