WFSF XXV WORLD CONFERENCE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Writer, Consultant
- Writer, Consultant & Theorist
Craig Slee is a disabled writer, consultant & theorist dealing with Mythology, Folklore, Magic & Culture exploring life through the lens of landscape, disability and fugitive embodiments. His aim is to trouble notions of agency, ableism, and presence, drawing attention to the blurry peripheralisms and hidden, unnoticed currents of awareness in which we are all entangled and embedded.
He has contributed essays and poetry focusing on the numinous and disability to various anthologies including: "The Dark Mountain Journal", "Rendering Unconscious:Rendering Unconscious: Psychoanalytic Perspectives, Politics & Poetry" and "The Fenris Wolf 10." In 2023, he co-released "Goêtic Atavisms", with his contribution exploring the role of dis/ability in relation to the practice of sorcerous ontologies. He has also co-faciltated multiple seminar series at Dresden Academy for Fine Arts, on such interrelated subjects as "Factoring Space" and "Ableism in the Arts." As part of the ‘Kinship Group 26' collective, he has previously spoken at conferences, including Art Meets Radical Openess 2022. He lives in the North West of England, and likes cats.
Job Titles:
- Adjunct Professor of Organizational Leadership at UMass Global
- Dissertation Chair
Dr. Deborah Schreiber is Adjunct Professor of Organizational Leadership at UMass Global (a nonprofit affiliate of the University of Massachusetts, USA). She possesses over thirty years of experience as an educational leader and consultant in the field of higher education, organizational leadership, strategic foresight, and futures thinking. Dr. Schreiber divides her time between teaching and advising dissertation research and working as a consultant with executive leaders to develop and strengthen organizational capability for futures thinking. Dr. Schreiber's latest book - Futures Thinking and Organizational Policy, Volume 2 (Case Studies for Managing Rapid Change in Social Media, Shift in Wealth, and Government Instability) - will be available January 2024 by Palgrave Macmillan.
Job Titles:
- Senior Consultant / Pharos Institute / CEO
Dr Perez graduated with a Bachelor of Behavioural Science and Bachelor of Commerce from Griffith University with his professional career beginning as a graduate recruit in the Federal department of industry, tourism, and resources. He decided to extend his education by obtaining a Master of Business by Research at the University of the Sunshine Coast exploring strategy and strategic planning within Australian commercial fisher micro-businesses. More recently, Dr Perez successfully completed a research thesis and was awarded a Doctoral qualification from the University of Southern Queensland.
He founded, produces, and hosts multiple podcasts under the Talking Leadership Network banner. The podcast has now moved to both audio and video platforms building my practical, academic and workplace knowledge of leadership capability and leader development.
Job Titles:
- Program Coordinator
- Associate Professor and Program Coordinator for the University of Houston 's Graduate Program
Dr. Andy Hines is Associate Professor and Program Coordinator for the University of Houston's Graduate Program in Foresight and is also speaking, workshopping, and consulting through his firm Hinesight. His 30+ years of professional futurist experience includes a decade's experience working inside first the Kellogg Company and later Dow Chemical, and consulting work with Coates & Jarratt, Inc. and Social Technologies/Innovaro. His books include The Knowledge Base of Futures Studies 2020, Thinking about the Future (2nd edition), Teaching about the Future, ConsumerShift: How Changing Values Are Reshaping the Consumer Landscape, 2025: Science and Technology Reshapes US and Global Society, and his dissertation was "The Role of an Organizational Futurist in Integrating Foresight into Organizations." His next book slated for the fall is Imaging After Capitalism. He is a member and was Founding Chair of the Association of Professional Futurists.
Job Titles:
- President and Chief Futurist / the Futures Lab, Inc
An ex-UK diplomat, Dr. Derek Woodgate is a consulting futurist, educator, author, speaker, and curator. He is President and Chief Futurist of The Futures Lab, Inc., a futures consultancy, founded in 1996. The company specializes in creating future potential for corporations and institutions and has consulted for over 170 corporate clients, governments, associations, city, regional management and universities. (https://futures-lab.com)
A British citizen, Derek is a resident of Croatia, USA, and UAE, having gained his BA (Hons) at UCL, his MS in Political Economics from the University of Zagreb, and a Doctor Philosophiae (Dr. Philos.) from the University of Agder, Norway, in Engineering and Science.
Derek has spent the past 15 years teaching futures studies at universities in Norway, USA and Saudi Arabia and is currently an Adjunct Professor at The University of Houston, USA and an Executive Board member at the Center for Futures Studies at the University of Dubai, and a Consultant at PMU, in Saudi Arabia. Derek is part of a Norwegian team for educational cooperation and programs in Rwanda, Uganda and Ethiopia.
Derek is a frequent conference keynote and commentator on futures-related topics, such as the impact of progressive culture and future technologies on transformative societies, decentralized thinking and knowledge systems, transdisciplinary education and intelligent environments. Derek is a founding member of the APF, a long-time member of the World Futures Studies Federation (previous conference Chair) and has been involved in numerous UNESCO projects.
His books include Future Frequencies (2004) and Future Flow (2012) and Calling the Toads - The Burroughs Compendium, together with Lee Ranaldo from Sonic Youth, Beat legend Allen Ginsburg and Presidential Historian, Douglas Brinkley. He is currently writing a new book titled Future Rhythms due for publication in 2024.
Job Titles:
- Independent Art / Academic Researcher
Dr. Freyja van den Boom is an independent art/academic researcher working on AI disruptions, Data, and Human-Robot interactions. Her current research is on developing models of anticipatory governance for transformative AI; and on methodology using speculative design, foresight and arts-based approaches. She obtained a PhD from Bournemouth University with a dissertation titled: Driven by digital innovations: Regulating In-vehicle data access and use for Telematics Insurance in Europe. She has an LLM from Tilburg University and MSc from Lund University with a thesis on Sociology of norms: Sci-Hub, legal and normative issues of online file sharing. She has been a researcher on various EU funded projects in the field of Copyright, privacy, and data protection, as a Trademark and Design attorney and law and ethics lecturer for media and game development studies. She has published her research and presented and performed her academic and artistic works internationally at academic, industry and community events and conferences including in the UK, Japan, Belgium and The Netherlands.
Irina V. Wang is a designer and writer practising the creative work of cross-sector translation, the strategic work of systems transition, and the ethical work of forging allyship. She grew up a Taiwanese-Floridian and moved to the UK, where she studied at the University of the Arts London and worked as a graphic designer at Pentagram. Combining a love of typography, language, and environmental philosophy, she began designing alongside linguists and native communities to revitalise endangered languages. Recognising that language/environmental/social justice is one of the demands arising from shared systemic issues, she pursued an Industrial Design master's at the Rhode Island School of Design to develop transdisciplinary approaches for urgent and ethical systems-shifting.
Situated at the intersection of existential risk and structural injustice, her recent projects have ranged from equitable carbon sequestration to nuclear non-proliferation with collaborators such as the United Nations. As a recent Fulbright researcher in Finland, she worked with scientists combining systems mapping and participatory research to shed light on Sámi reindeer herders' experiential knowledge of climate change and their hopes for the future.
Job Titles:
- Visiting Research Associate / King 's College London / Researcher and PhD Candidate
Jéssica Leite dos Santos is a Brazilian futurist specialised in Futures Methodology and Literacy. Co-organizer and co-author of two books in the area, she has been working proactively in the dissemination and the consolidation of Futures Thinking and Research practices under public and private organisations, developing research projects, courses, events, and scientific dissemination materials. Currently a Visiting Research Associate in the King's College London Department of War Studies, she works on the topic of social participation in Governments' Futures Thinking and Foresight process, an activity related to her role as Researcher at the Defence Future Seeds Monitoring Network project (PROCAD-DEFESA). Jéssica is a PhD candidate and Master in Maritime Studies in the Brazilian Naval War College (PPGEM-EGN) and a BA in Law from the Brazilian Fluminense Federal University (UFF).
Job Titles:
- Partner / 4CF the Futures Literacy Company / Member of the Board
- Partner at 4CF
Kacper Nosarzewski is a partner at 4CF and a board member of the Polish Society for Futures Studies. He is the author of methodologies and facilitator of foresight projects for civilian and military clients, an Interpol expert. Kacper advises on strategic foresight enterprises and international institutions, such as FAO and UNFCCC. He led the project Scenarios of National Development 2050 for the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure and Development. Kacper has managed projects for medium and large companies and government agencies around the world in the high-tech, food and beverage, financial, logistics and defense industries. He is a member of the Polish branch of The Millennium Project - the world's largest foresight think tank and a member of the Association of Professional Futurists and World Future Society. He teaches foresight at the Naval Academy, andAGH University of Science. He is a champion of interactive speculative fiction in foresight.
Job Titles:
- Director of International Cooperation - Universidad Nacional De Loja
- Economist from the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador
Kevin Jiménez-Villavicencio is an economist from the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador. He holds a Master's degree in Economics with a specialization in Economic Development with registration number 1026-09-694894 from FLACSO Ecuador. He also has a Master's in Business Administration (MBA) from the Carlos III University de Madrid and the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, as well as a Diploma in Public-Private Partnerships from the Development Bank of Latin America - CAF. Additionally, he has completed the certification program in Google Data Analytics and the Google Project Management Certificate. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Research and Innovation in Mexico.
Kevin has experience in both the public and private sectors. He served as the Deputy Secretary of the National Planning Secretariat for Zone 7, Zonal Manager of the Development Bank of Ecuador, and Advisor to the Minister of Finance of Ecuador. Currently, he is the Director of International Cooperation at the Universidad Nacional de Loja
Job Titles:
- Project Manager
- Director of Youth Foresight Projects
Lisa Giuliani is a seasoned project manager and educator committed to empowering youth and organizations through foresight. With over a decade of experience across higher education, K-12 schools, private sector and nonprofits, she currently serves as Director of Youth Foresight Projects for Teach the Future and Awards Coordinator for the Association of Professional Futurists. With a passion for intergenerational equity, making futures thinking accessible and activating youth leaders, she believes cross-collaboration strengthens organizations and communities. She received a Bachelor of Arts focused in Psychology from University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Arts in Industrial Organizational Psychology from Golden Gate University, San Francisco.
Jan is a professional futurist in the space of corporate foresight. Together with Carina Stöttner he has founded Themis Foresight in 2021 in Berlin, Germany, to anticipate economic, technological, social, environmental, and political drivers of future change. He and his team are driven by the conviction that outstanding futures research is key for the strategic direction of Europe's business and entrepreneurial elite. Accordingly, he has injected unique quality standards into the DNA of Themis Foresight's research ethics.
Jan works closely with corporate executives as a sparring partner. To this end, he has developed a deep and broad understanding of various industries and their future potential through years of research and consulting. He has authored and co-authored dozens of futures studies, whitepapers and two books on ethics in Artificial Intelligence and employability criteria.
Recently he has published together with Siv Helen Hesjedal an analysis on the European economy in a new world order and co-authored future scenarios for the European economy. Currently he and his team conduct research on futures of capital markets, intermodal logistics and mobility, and industrial labor.
Jan has studied Modern and Contemporary History and Slavic Studies at Moscow State University and Humboldt University, Berlin. He has lived and worked on four continents, held leadership positions in corporations and startups. His career path has taken him through publishing, real estate, software development, and finance. Before founding Themis Foresight, he was the CEO of the 2b AHEAD ThinkTank.