CO-FOUNDER + DIRECTOR

Victoria is a builder of things - teams, strategies, services and futures - and uses strategic foresight and participatory futures tools to create more resilient and adaptive strategies, and purposeful cultures. She is the creator of the Aotearoa Futures Network Map, Co-Founder and Director of Speculative Futures Auckland. She is a member of the Global Futures Society and a regular contributor to consumer and academic publications worldwide.

CO-FOUNDER + DIRECTOR

Jade is a Designer, Facilitator, Innovator, Collaborator & Educator, and deeply passionate about Co-Designing Better Futures. Currently, Jade wears a few hats; Innovation Advisor & Facilitator at academyEX, Tech Futures Lab, Fractional Director of ThinkPlace and Co-Founder & Director of Speculative Design Futures Chapter in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland / Aotearoa New Zealand.

FUTURES FRIEND

Alice Dimond (Kāi Tahu) is a social innovation and futures practitioner with a passion for using these approaches to create more collective and equitable futures. As Project Manager at Tokona te Raki, she leads Mō Āpōpō Future-Makers, a project that equips young people to imagine and create better futures. This work includes designing a toolkit grounded in Māori perspectives and stories, empowering rangatahi to use these perspectives to navigate complexity and drive transformative change.

In addition, Alice is a Fellow with Next Generation Foresight Practitioners and an Advisory Trustee at Ako Ōtautahi Learning City Trust. She is also the National New Zealand Lead for the Futures Methods from Around the World project, where she explores how Māori worldviews, ways of thinking, organising, and acting can unlock new pathways to better futures. 

An experienced speaker, Alice has presented at global forums such as the Dubai Future Forum, World Futures Day, and the Building Hopeful Futures Festival. She is passionate about using mātauranga Māori and Indigenous worldviews to challenge dominant thinking, create new solutions, and drive systemic change.

Dr Cheryl Doig is a leadership futurist, weaver and connector, often known as the #FuturesAunty. Cheryl has a passion for growing futures literacy and foresight through her company, Think Beyond. She is the founder of the Ōtautahi Futures Collective, Aotearoa Futures and Oceania Futures.

In 2017 Cheryl was a finalist in the NZ Westpac Women of Influence Awards, in the Innovation and Science category. She is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the University of Canterbury, a professional member of the Association for Professional Futurists and a reviewer for the Journal of Future Studies.

Cheryl has over 30 year’s business and governance experience in education, social impact and health. She is founding trustee of Ako Ōtautahi Learning City Christchurch, a trust focused on growing a local learning ecosystem with a focus on equity, access and innovation.

FUTURES FRIEND

Descendant of Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi tribe in Whanganui New Zealand and Lakepa village in Niue. Alex is a senior design strategist for The Cause Collective, Healthy Families South Auckland, and project director of Kai Innovators. He is passionate about inter-generational impact amongst social issues that face New Zealand - Education, Entrepreneurship, Urban Development and Environment.

FUTURES FRIEND

Jo Mitchell is experienced at working in the space where insights, strategy and lived experiences collide. She uses a human-centered design approach to help organizations develop and implement impactful strategies. Her particular areas of expertise are in marketing, branding, communications and diversity, equity and inclusion. As Tangata Tiriti, Jo is interested in the connection between futures thinking, equity-centered design and Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the implications of this in her ways of working.