Heather McGowan

Top-Ranked Futurist & 2x Bestselling Author | Solve Tomorrow’s Problems™: Harness Human Ingenuity to Navigate What's Next

Heather McGowan

Top-Ranked Futurist & 2x Bestselling Author | Solve Tomorrow’s Problems™: Harness Human Ingenuity to Navigate What's Next

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Biography

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.

Speaker Videos

Speaking Reel

Managing Change Today

The Power of Human Connection

Understanding GenZ

Communication and Collaboration are our Superpowers

Thriving in the Augmented Era

What REALLY drives Performance

Behaviors Needed: Explorers and Skeptics

The Fundamentals: Time Trust Capacity

Future of Work & Learning

Multi Generations in the Workplace

Future of Work

See Fewer Videos

Speech Topics

SOLVE TOMORROW’S PROBLEMS™: Harness Human Ingenuity to Navigate What's Next

Think organizations can't change quickly? History proves otherwise.

When naysayers said "it can't be done," humans accomplished the impossible—in weeks, not years. Each pivotal moment reminds us of humanity’s most underestimated asset: our ability to adapt in the face of seemingly impossible odds.

In this perspective-shifting keynote, Heather challenges the myth that we resist change using unforgettable stories about a mop, a burrito, and a hermit crab to demonstrate how we can tap into our natural curiosity and hardwired drive to collaborate to see and shape what’s next.

Drawing from her bestselling books “The Adaptation Advantage” and “The Empathy Advantage,” Heather reveals how leading organizations thrive when they place adaptability at their core, allowing them to find breakthrough opportunities where others least expect them.

The audience will leave with:

A powerful understanding of how to frame the right question
Practical approaches to optimize how they adapt to new realities
Clear frameworks for mapping the past to navigate the future
The leadership mindset shifts that guide team success in uncharted territories

THE AUGMENTED ADVANTAGE: Unleashing Human Potential in the AI Era

Think you can't remember phone numbers like you used to? You're not alone. As we hand off more tasks to technology, some of our more-human capabilities will naturally fade. Yet while automation may lead to atrophy in some areas, augmentation opens doors to entirely new human capabilities—if we are intentional. The key isn’t only using AI to replace what we currently do by automating it, but transforming work as we know it.

In this eye-opening presentation, Heather cuts through the AI hype to demonstrate why thriving alongside AI isn't about having the right answers. Instead, it's about asking better questions, framing new challenges, and treating AI as our partner—enhancing our capabilities and expanding our cognitive horizons.

The audience will leave with:

A clear understanding of what to automate vs. augment—and why it matters
Practical ways to learn from AI as a collaborative partner
Fresh insights on how to build on uniquely human advantages in an AI world
Necessary leadership shifts to drive optimal human performance

THE CURIOSITY ADVANTAGE: Leading in the Age of Uncertainty

Remember when being a leader meant having all the answers? Today's most successful leaders are asking better questions. In a world of unprecedented opportunity, they’re not the most certain, but the most curious. According to research, this shift in profile—from know-it-alls to learn-it-alls—means we may be overlooking the very leaders we need right now.

In this paradigm-shifting talk, Heather reveals why the future belongs to forward-thinking leaders who can navigate relentless change by activating their team’s innate potential to learn, adapt, and grow.

Drawing on her bestselling books The Adaptation Advantage and The Empathy Advantage, along with compelling research and real-world examples, she demonstrates how exceptional performance depends on empowering rather than managing, building trust rather than enforcing processes, and harnessing collective intelligence for breakthrough results.

The audience will leave with:

Practical tools for activating their team’s collective potential
Clear methods for building high-trust environments where curiosity is encouraged
Frameworks for transforming management into performance enablement
Real examples of how curious leaders unlock performance

CLEAR ON PURPOSE: Turning Purpose into Performance Through a Shared Vision

In an era of unprecedented social division, our professional success hinges not on discussing politics at work, but on mastering the tools of constructive dialogue—active listening, intellectual humility, and genuine curiosity—to create environments where diverse perspectives transform friction into fuel for innovation.

The ability to bridge divides through emotional intelligence and skilled communication may be our most valuable professional competency in today's interconnected world. When organizational purpose aligns with human potential, extraordinary things happen.

In this inspirational keynote drawn from Heather’s most recent book, The Empathy Advantage, Heather reveals how purpose can become your organization’s most powerful performance driver.

Through compelling research and real-world examples, she demonstrates how a shared vision can create the trust, belonging, and motivation needed to transform individual potential into collective impact—through increasing engagement, reducing turnover, and unleashing performance.

By getting clear on purpose, we don't just adapt to change—we shape the future.

The audience will be able to:

Foster brave dialogue that transforms differences into innovation
Link individual roles to organizational purpose through clear vision
Transform purpose into measurable actions and celebrated outcomes
Make necessary leadership shifts to build shared vision

START WITH TRUST: The Lifeblood of High-Performing Teams

Despite disruptions like technology shifts and social changes, businesses today have a unique opportunity to tap into measurable advantages when it comes to engagement, innovation, and profitability—and it all begins with TRUST.

Just as humanity's greatest achievements arose from collective effort, cohesive teams innovate faster, adapt more effectively, maintain higher engagement, experience lower turnover, and consistently outperform their peers.

In this powerful presentation drawn from her two most recent books The Adaptation Advantage and The Empathy Advantage, Heather shares proven tools audiences can use to activate their natural collaborative strengths so they can achieve extraordinary results, gain a competitive advantage, and drive sustainable growth.

The audience will leave with:

Tips to intentionally build trust, belonging, and a shared sense of purpose
Practical strategies to build cohesive, high-performing teams
Tools for maintaining focus and cohesion during rapid change
Leadership mindset shifts to establish authentic relationships and trust

Testimonials

"A truly inspired and uplifting presentation. Thanks to Heather McGowan and all presenters for providing substantial guideposts to navigate the future of education and work. There are a multitude of silver linings out there and educators are in the position to make great things happen for all community members. Bravo."

- College of Dupage

"Not only was working with Heather an absolute pleasure, but her virtual keynote address was beyond compare. Her speech secured our largest audience to date and attendees unanimously praised her inspiring and engaging message. We cannot recommend her highly enough!"

- Executive Director, NSPA

"Heather has a unique ability to communicate complex information that is accessible to the public AND credible to the expert. She gave a superb online talk at the record breaking 'Brainfood Marathon 2020', which was not only the most watched of the 80+ sessions across the 24 hours, but 'most requested' by those missed it. If you are looking for an expert analyst on the future of work who can speak to the widest possible audience, look no further than Heather McGowan."

- Founder and CEO of Workshape.io

"I was fortunate enough to hear Heather speak at the Innovation in the 'Age of Accelerations' Forum. She is an amazing communicator and a driving force, inspiring new relevant perspectives. Her presentation is a 'must see' by leaders across government, academia, and industry who should be preparing our society for the future of work and the future of learning… The future of work is learning!"

- Executive Director at Air Force Human Resilience

“Engaging content. Articulate and personable. Well researched. Interactive and fun! Heather brought all of this and more. We needed a speaker who could address the future work, and Heather’s message about adaptation touched on a number of topics relevant to our workforce, such as learning, distributed work, collaboration and leadership. In this 'new normal' of work from home and virtual meetings, Heather adapted her content to our needs in an interactive and meaningful way.”

- Okta

“The power of a presenter is in their message, their knowledge, and their connection to their audience... Heather will deliver a keynote over video and of the many things I am concerned about, her impact on the greater CAEL membership is not one of them. She will be a star, instructive, up-to-date, and will give a sense of hope that is imbued all throughout her talks. As we all pivot to the new COVID normal, I am looking to Heather to provide latest thought leadership and information to keep me thinking about the future for my organization. I recommend her to everyone, and she is one of the few speakers who would do as well via video as Face to Face. Part of that is her direct, congenial, self-sharing personality. Seeing her on video actually enhances her engagement with the audience, rather than having to focus on a speaker hundreds of feet away. Give me Heather virtually any day. Her message, immense knowledge and synthesis, and her connection to the audience — all hi fidelity via video. She is my go-to futurist.”

- President, Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL)

"Heather has the unique ability to synthesize and intellectualize large amounts of often-disparate data into a cohesive, clear, and actionable strategy. I have never met a person with greater ability to craft clear actionable vision and strategy from ambiguity and complexity and to lead diverse teams towards a common vision."

- Co-Founder Jiffy Lube, Chancellor Emeritus Jefferson University

“Heather is my go-to person because are a lot of mirages out there when it comes to the Future of Work and she is the oasis. She is the real deal. Her ability to convey information in both words and visuals together are really powerful.”

- Thomas L Friedman, NYT Columnist & Pulitzer Prize Winner Author

“In a world where speakers claim to be experts, Heather is a genuine expert who can speak.”

- CEO, Karrikins Group

“As a university president, entrepreneur, and board member, I have never ever seen anyone better than Heather at demystifying complex information to provide a path to action.”

- Babson College President

“Heather is in a category of her own—a singularly gifted strategist who sees the future and communicates it with clarity.”

- Vice President Autodesk

“Heather provided the spark, the insights, and the energy to move our HR team forward. Her talk had something for everyone on our team, from our centers of excellence to our HR partners, from our leaders to our operations team, from our learning team to our compensation group. In particular, her discussion of the future of work and the importance of learning at the heart of organizational life really hit home for all of us.”

- Executive Human Resource Leader, Biogen

“I was fortunate to hear Heather speak at the Innovation in the “Age of Accelerations” Forum. She is an amazing communicator and a driving force, inspiring new relevant perspectives. Her presentation is a “must see” by leaders across government, academia, and industry who should be preparing our society for the future of work and the future of learning...the future of work is learning!”

- Executive Director Air Force Human Resilience (Major General), United States Airforce

“In the war for talent, organizations must be able to offer employees a path that goes beyond typical career progression. Heather presents a compelling and thought-provoking vision that focuses on lifelong learning and adaptability for employees, which the pace of technological change essentially requires. Her analysis is comprehensive, yet easily understood. She distills it into actionable steps to help organizations move towards creating an environment in which employees and organizations mutually benefit and are well positioned for an uncertain future.”

- Managing Director, Alvarez and Marsal

“In a world where we are drowning in information, clarity is power. Many add to the noise and the fears about the future of work; but Heather has done the homework, the thinking and crafted the vision for adapting with supreme clarity. Her straight talk and clear insights will hit the top ratings at your event - guaranteed.”

- Vice President Strategic Partnerships, sparks & honey

“Heather 'simplifies the complex' with stories and visuals delivered in an authentic and engaging manner that leave people feeling empowered to become adaptable, lifelong learners.”

- Global Program Leader, Enterprise Learning, Morningstar