Institute For The Future

Meet Research Director Leah Zaidi!

Leah Zaidi, Research Director

Leah Zaidi has lived in Canada since the age of six, and brings to IFTF her extensive expertise in marketing, foresight strategy, systems thinking, and global development.

While studying at Ontario College of Art & Design University's Master of Design in Strategic Foresight and Innovation program, Leah became acquainted with IFTF when instructors frequently cited our work as examples of how futures thinking can be applied to complex problems. "It's really important for students to be able to see what good work looks like so they know how to do it for themselves," she says, "and IFTF is one of those places that has been doing this work well for a long time."

Leah's goal at IFTF is to democratize the future. “Considering the time we're in right now and the critical issues that are emerging, we need to get this skillset out to as many people as possible, so that we're collectively imagining futures that suit all of us and serve all of us.”

As a science fiction writer, Leah gravitates toward stories that emphasize world-building, like Frank Herbert’s Dune, and explore contemporary social issues around race and class, like N. K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy.

You might see Leah at an IFTF workshop or function carrying a Spider-Man lunchbox. It isn't filled with peanut butter sandwiches and carrot sticks. Instead, it contains sticky notes and Sharpies. "It's been the keeper of my workshop supplies for a while," says  Leah.

We welcome Leah and her lunchbox to our growing team!

 

 

Read Leah’s research on world-building and science fiction here and here.
Read Leah’s paper on the min spec for future-proofing here.