The 2026 Spring Gathering theme is Transformation. Our world is in flux, so how do we do it, what do the futures look like, and what’s the journey?
Our program will explore transformative ideas, tools, and pilots across three tracks:
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Processes: how we do it
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Outcomes: what futures look like
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Pathways: the journey
The event is free, just get here!
Presenters
Ashley Chiarelli is a Senior Strategist, Foresight Practitioner, and Change Agent with 12+ years of experience making transformation real in complex organizations. She has facilitated transformation at scale, from a 4,700-person organizational move to creating change management frameworks deployed across 25 global offices, and has navigated organizational resistance across oil & gas, science & tech, government, and academic sectors. Ashley specializes in the gap between transformation and implementation—understanding the organizational conditions, resource realities, and cultural factors that determine whether strategic insights become lasting change.
Ingrid Furtado is a storyteller and futurist who integrates journalism with foresight expertise to help organizations and communities navigate change. A double award-winning futurist, she focuses on liberatory practices, personal futures, and sustainable pathways. Ingrid has led foresight projects as a consultant, project lead, and facilitator for organizations of all sizes. As a Futures Fellow at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), she applies her expertise to advance sustainable development. She holds an MS in Foresight from the University of Houston and a BA in Journalism from Pontifical Catholic University (PUC-Minas), Brazil.
In her role as director of strategic foresight projects, Maria Crabtree (formerly Romero) makes substantive contributions to KnowledgeWorks’ national thought leadership around the future of learning and conducts key strategic foresight activities. She manages projects, directs and carries out strategic foresight research and collaborates with colleagues to author publications and other assets exploring the future of learning and its implications for education leaders. Maria holds a BS in Sociology from the Universidad Central de Venezuela, advanced studies in Communications from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello and an MS in Foresight from the University of Houston. She is an International Baccalaureate alum and a member of the Association of Professional Futurists and the Project Management Institute.
Tristan Markwell is a current student in the UH Foresight Masters program. He has nearly 2 decades of experience in Healthcare data, AI, and strategy.
Stephen Dupont is a UNDP Future Fellow for 2025-2026. Based in Minneapolis-St. Paul, he earned his master’s degree in foresight from the University of Houston (2024). He also serves as editor of Compass, an online magazine published by the Association of Professional Futurists (APF.org) and serves on the boards of the APF and Teach the Future.
Nicci Obert serves as the Research Director for the University of Houston Foresight program. Her research focuses on activating prosocial futures by developing methods for practitioners and participants to practice an orientation toward cooperation and the cocreation of better futures. She brings a background in nonprofit work, biology, and writing to the work of imagining and manifesting futures worth wanting.
Dr. Lavonne Leong is Principal of Embr Futures, a firm specializing in adaptive and transformational futures, as well as foresight capacity building. She has worked with organizations and communities worldwide, including the United Nations Development Programme and the East-West Center. Dr. Leong serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Futures Studies and co-founded its Community of Practice. She holds an MSc in Strategic Foresight from the University of Houston and a DPhil focusing on narrative structures from the University of Oxford.
Mina McBride’s primary goal is to make foresight actionable. She uses her knowledge of behavior change and systems development to help organizations and individuals experience peak performance in business, health, and life by focusing on their strengths while utilizing proven psychological and futures studies methods to remove the barriers associated with meeting the demands of a rapidly changing world where continuous adaptation is a requirement. Her futures work has been published in foresight journals such as On the Horizon, World Futures Review, and Journal of Futures Studies. She also works professionally in the field at a Fortune 50 company where she leads the corporate foresight team in its use of quantitative and qualitative foresight methods to inform strategic planning processes. Mina holds a degree in Psychology and has a master’s in Foresight from the University of Houston.
Tim Morgan is a Dallas–Fort Worth based educator and independent consultant specializing in strategic foresight and innovation. A member of the Association of Professional Futurists and a 2019 APF Emerging Fellow, he received a 2020 APF Most Significant Futures Work award for his research on automation and modes of ownership. A former systems engineer and IT analyst, he authors The Everyday Futurist, a blog exploring the evolving future of society and technology.
Philip Jones is an AI Business Strategist at Salesforce, where he helps define approaches to implement AI technology grounded in human well-being and ethics. He is also a student of the UH Strategic Foresight Master’s Program and has been combining his work in AI, organizational change, and foresight to improve his approaches to each. He has over 15 years of experience in organizational and individual change management, with a focus on how people adapt to new technology and thinking. His focus in foresight has been applying futures and change to make people and teams more adaptable, and the role AI has in changing ways of thinking and relating to the world.
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.
In the role of senior manager of strategic foresight, Jeremiah-Anthony supports the organization’s strategic foresight, analysis and writing on the future of learning. Moreover, Jeremiah-Anthony provides project management projects, participates in strategic foresight research and supports external engagements. Jeremiah-Anthony holds a BA in Mass Communication and a BA in African and African-American Studies from Louisiana State University and an MPAP from the American University. Jeremiah-Anthony is a member of the Association of Professional Futurists and the Project Management Institute.
Karessa Torgerson is a transdisciplinary futurist focused on the futures of technology, biosciences, human connection and authenticity, and integrity. She has worked with organizations large a small, including UNICEF, Conceptia, and US Centers for Disease Control, to build foresight capabilities, and create more sustainable, joyful futures. She holds a BS in Environmental Sciences with a minor in Chemistry, and an MsC in Foresight from the University of Houston.
2026 Theme: Transformation
Last year, we touched on transformation as we celebrated our 50th anniversary and looked ahead to the next 50 years of the program. Our world is currently in a period of high uncertainty and turbulence… without a clear sense of where it wants to go. Transformation is needed, but… to what, how do we do it, and what is the pathway like?
SG 26 will be all about transformation. Not just at the global level, but also at the community, organizational, and personal levels.
The three main tracks we are thinking about:
- Transformation processes: how do we do it?
- Transformation outcomes: what’s the futures look like?
- Transformation pathways: what’s the journey look like?
Speaking and sharing spots are open to Master’s and Certificate alums, current students… and faculty! We will, of course, have our usual fun and games, networking, and partying. The event is free… you just need to get here and find a place to stay.