Melanie Howard was a co-founder in 1996 and is now chair of the
Future Foundation, an independent global trends and insight
consultancy that helps clients identify emerging market
opportunities in order to innovate more effectively and reduce
risk. She has devised and run over 200 futures projects ranging
from the 24 Hour Society for First Direct to
Rural Futures for DEFRA. Passionate about the value of
futures thinking to organisations of all sizes and sectors, she has
contributed to the development of strategy and innovation
programmes at a number of major organisations in many different
sectors including Nissan, Coors and Avon. Alongside her work with
Future Foundation, she is a visiting business fellow in Innovation
at the Royal College of Art and a visiting executive professor at
Henley Business School where she is runs a master class in Futures
Thinking.
Women's issues have always been top of her agenda - she has
researched and written four reports on the future of women
including Tomorrow's Women and Future
Female. She is now a Trustee of the Women's Sport and
Fitness Foundation which aims to increase levels of physical
activity amongst women and girls in the UK and recently ran a
workshop for the leadership team of Nike Foundation's Girl Hub in
Portland on the impact of new payment systems on young women in
Africa.