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Heather E. McGowan

Future-of-Work Strategist, Author, Thought Leader, Keynote Speaker

As one of Forbes' Top Futurists, Heather E. McGowan is a future-of-work strategist who equips organizations to navigate relentless change by activating their most critical resource: their people. By teaching audiences to ask better questions, they can adapt at the speed of possibility to Solve Tomorrow's Problems™.

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Bio

One of Forbes' Top Futurists, Heather E. McGowan is a sought-after future-of-work strategist, keynote speaker, and 2x bestselling author. She equips leaders and organizations to navigate relentless change by activating their most critical resource: their people. By teaching audiences to ask better questions, she enables them to adapt at the speed of possibility to Solve Tomorrow's Problems™.

Heather’s audiences range from startups and government organizations to publicly traded Fortune 500 companies, including Google, JPMorgan Chase, Accenture, Mastercard, FedEx, AT&T, and Kaiser Permanente. Whether she's engaging in intimate conversations with senior executives or delivering keynotes to thousands, she transforms perspectives through data-driven insights, powerful visual frameworks, and practical optimism. Her approach helps organizations turn their distinctly human capabilities—adaptability, empathy, and curiosity—into strategic advantages in times of rapid change.

Heather's approach to innovation was shaped by her early career as an industrial designer. At Safety 1st, she helped transform the company known for its "Baby on Board" sign in to a comprehensive baby safety products' leader, developing multiple top-selling products. Her success continued at Wilson Sporting Goods', where she designed award-winning tennis footwear. Her innovative work extended to medical devices, where she designed surgical equipment controls, and sustainable consumer goods, creating a groundbreaking recyclable razor system that remains in production two decades later.

This hands-on experience taught her that true innovation isn't just about finding solutions—it's about asking better questions to Solve Tomorrow’s Problems. After earning her MBA from Babson College, Heather expanded into socially responsive investing and later led RISD's Center for Design and Business, helping organizations integrate user-centric design thinking into business strategy.

As Strategic Architect at Philadelphia University (now Jefferson University), Heather created an award-winning, interdisciplinary college focused on innovation. Her achievements included integrating 18 existing programs into a new core curriculum and creating an immersive design thinking-based program. The curriculum won the Core 77 top National Design Award for Education.

Heather’s emergence as a global thought leader began with a viral LinkedIn series on the future of work—reaching 100,000 readers in 24 hours—which sparked speaking invitations worldwide. Often quoted in The New York Times, Pulitzer-prize winning columnist Thomas Friedman referred to Heather as an “oasis” for her insights into the future of work. Her bestselling books include The Adaptation Advantage, which became an accidental guide to the pandemic, and The Empathy Advantage, named a Top 10 Business Book of 2023.

Heather holds a BFA in Industrial Design from Rhode Island School of Design, an MBA from Babson College focused on Entrepreneurship, and was recently awarded an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Pennsylvania College of Art and Design for her contributions to innovating education.

Personal experiences, like mobilizing 7,000 strangers to find a life-saving bone marrow donor for her brother, fuel Heather's unwavering optimism and core belief: humans are wired to help each other achieve extraordinary things. This drives her mission: to help leaders Solve Tomorrow's Problems™ by teaching them to ask better questions today.

Keynotes

Featured Keynote

  • The Augmented Imperative: Unleashing Human Potential in the AI Era
  • Leading in the Age of Uncertainty: The Curiosity Advantage:
  • Clear on Purpose: Turning Purpose into Performance Through a Shared Vision
  • Start with Trust: The Lifeblood of High-Performing Teams

Forbes (Interview) Practical Advice on How to Lead an Empowered Workforce

March 2023, Interview based upon her most recent book The Empathy Advantage

Fast Company: From the Great Resignation to the Great Refusal, Here are five G's mean to the Future of Work

March 2023: The great resignation, retirement, refusal, reshuffle, and relocation are causing a tectonic shift in how we both live and work .

OECD Network: Empathy, trust, and compassion, the trifecta of superior leadership

The profile of an effective leader has shifted almost 180 degrees from an unquestioned expert who can myopically drive productivity to a humble, curious learner who inspire potential in their team with love, caring, and belonging.

The Coronavirus Ushers In The Human Capital Era

https://www.forbes.com/sites/heathermcgowan/2020/11/05/the-coronavirus-ushers-in-the-human-capital-era/?sh=5a8788f022dd

Learning Is The New Pension

There has never been a more exciting time to be in human resources (HR)—that was evident at the Unleash World annual summit in Paris, where I was honored to give an opening keynote speech.

  • 2023 The Empathy Advantage: Leading the Empowered Workforce
  • 2020 The Adaptation Advantage: Let Go, Learn Fast, and Thrive in the Future of Work
  • 2013 Disrupt Together: How Teams Consistently Innovate
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