Shermon Cruz Appointed Chair of the Association of Professional Futurists
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Professional_Futurists
WASHINGTON, D.C. – To signal it is ready to take on new horizons and opportunities, the Association of Professional Futurists welcomes a new board chair for 2021-2022, Professor Shermon O. Cruz from Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, Philippines. Cruz brings two decades of experience to APF in governance, leadership and policy foresight, education, capacity building, risk management, and business continuity.
While APF has had board members from Europe, Africa, or Asia for over half of its 19 years, this marks a historic first for the association that its Chair now hails from outside North America.
As APF’s Chair, Cruz envisions an action-filled and collaborative leadership trajectory for the association to increase its reach and impact at the global and local levels; create stronger engagements and partnerships to increase and diversify its membership; facilitate active knowledge sharing and expand the discourses that address emerging challenges and opportunities in the professionalization of foresight.
As head of the Millennium Project Philippines Node, Cruz is a well-recognized figure on the international stage. He has been the Executive Director and Chief Futurist of the Center for Engaged Foresight (CEF), a global foresight consulting firm based in Manila that specializes in designing and facilitating futures literacy, capacity building, and futures programs in the public and private sectors. In education, Prof. Cruz has been actively shaping the futures discourse, and the professionalization of foresight practice in the Philippines and the Asia Pacific, as Chairperson of the 2020 Asia Pacific Futures Network this past year.
Other foresight engagements for Cruz include being the co-founder and Lead futurist of the Philippine Futures Thinking Society, a UNESCO senior curator and global futures literacy expert, Supervising and Research Fellow of the Development Academy of the Philippines Futures Studies Platform, a Regional Editor of the Journal of Futures Studies (JFS) published by the Graduate Institute of Futures Studies at Tamkang University, a member of the CSIRO Data 61 Asia Pacific Foresight Group, and resource expert for the Philippine Senate Committee on SDGs, Innovation and Futures Thinking.
APF welcomes two other incoming officers: Tanja Schindler of Berlin, Germany as Vice-Chair, and Rebecca Ryan of Madison, Wisconsin, the USA as Treasurer. To complement these officers, APF’s international board is comprised of nine futurists from 4 continents: Bryan Alexander of Manassas, Virginia, USA, Yoonsik Choi of Seoul, South Korea and Irvine, California, Jay Gary of Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, Joyce Gioia of Austin, Texas, USA, Terry Grim from Houston, Texas, USA, Maya Van Leemput of Antwerp, Belgium, Patricia Lustig of Gloucestershire, United Kingdom, Marius Oösthuizen of Pretoria, South Africa and Prateeksha Singh of Bangkok, Thailand. With this body, APF has reached a new plateau as a global Board representing foresight professionals worldwide.
Professor Shermon Cruz succeeds Jay Gary of Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA as APF Chair. Association plans for 2021 include continuing its award programs, hosting a global gathering in Toronto this Fall, conducting a virtual Futures Festival to highlight diverse voices, strengthening member engagement through virtual town halls and regional events, and offering its monthly “Foresight Friday” member webinar series.
ABOUT THE APF
THE ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL FUTURISTS is a global collaborative community of futurists advancing professional foresight. Our credentialed members help stakeholders anticipate and influence the future. https://www.apf.org/
News article extracted from https://www.apf.org/news/news.asp?id=549988#comments