Past work.

Community and staff engagement.

  • My Future Home Forum

    National and regional workshops with youth, newcomers and seniors exploring their preferred housing futures.

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  • Futures of Prairie-Based Theatre

    A collaborative deep exploration into the preferred futures of theatre in the Canadian prairies.

    Learn more.

  • Centre for Quality and Design.

    A project with the Quality and People-Centred care team to co-design the Centre for Quality & Design. 

    Learn more.

  • 2023 - 2027 Corporate Strategic Plan

    A future-focused and participatory approach to developing the Region of Waterloo’s strategic plan.

    Learn more.

  • People-Centred Care Strategy

    Development of an ambitious five-year plan that puts patients, community, hospital staff and physicians at the centre.

    Learn more.

  • CIFAR in 2040

    External interviews and a staff retreat to inform the future organizational strategy.

    Learn more.

Strategy and planning.

  • 2023 - 2027 Corporate Strategic Plan

    A future-focused and participatory approach to developing the Region of Waterloo’s strategic plan.

    Learn more.

  • People-Centred Care Strategy

    Development of an ambitious five-year plan that puts patients, community, hospital staff and physicians at the centre.

    Learn more.

  • CIFAR in 2040

    External interviews and a staff retreat to inform the future organizational strategy.

    Learn more.

  • Future-Focused Facilities Planning

    Development of a future-focused assessment to support the City’s Corporate Facility Portfolio Plan.

    Learn more.

  • Remote Work Policy

    An exploration of the futures of work at the City to inform Calgary’s remote work policy.

    Learn more.

  • School of Creative Arts in 2040

    An assessment of the future needs of UFV’s School for Creative Arts based on emerging post-secondary trends.

    Learn more.

  • 10-Year Action Plan

    Translating an ambitious 10-year growth plan into tangible actions that anticipate the range of changes impacting the futures of early learning.

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  • Smart Calgary Strategic Focus Areas

    Facilitation of future-oriented workshops to inform the City of Calgary’s priorities related to smart cities.

    Learn more.

Trends and scenario research.

  • Career Development in 2040

    A multi-phased research project exploring possible futures of work, careers, and career development professionals.

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  • Calgary 2035 Scenarios & Toolkit

    Development of a strategic foresight toolkit to support future-focused decision making across the City of Calgary.

    Learn more.

  • Futures of Prairie-Based Theatre

    A collaborative deep exploration into the preferred futures of theatre in the Canadian prairies.

    Learn more.

  • 2023 - 2027 Corporate Strategic Plan

    A future-focused and participatory approach to developing the Region of Waterloo’s strategic plan.

    Learn more.

  • Employment in 2030 Action Labs

    A multi-phased research initiative translating labour market information into actionable solutions in YT, BC, MB, QC, NL.

    Learn more.

  • Imagining 2080

    A forum on Canada’s futures where 150 posibility-minded delegates gathered for three days in Hamilton, ON to explore possible futures for Canada in 2080.

    Learn more.

  • CIFAR in 2040

    External interviews and a staff retreat to inform the future organizational strategy.

    Learn more.

  • Future-Focused Facilities Planning

    Development of a future-focused assessment to support the City’s Corporate Facility Portfolio Plan.

    Learn more.

  • 10-Year Action Plan

    Translating an ambitious 10-year growth plan into tangible actions that anticipate the range of changes impacting the futures of early learning.

    Learn more.

  • School of Creative Arts in 2040

    An assessment of the future needs of UFV’s School for Creative Arts based on emerging post-secondary trends.

    Learn more.

  • Remote Work Policy

    An exploration of the futures of work at the City to inform Calgary’s remote work policy.

    Learn more.

  • Futures of Ontario Galleries

    Facilitation of a hands-on strategic foresight professional development workshop for gallery leaders

    Learn more.

Workshop and retreat facilitation.

  • Futures of Food

    The facilitation of a Discovery Panel with global researchers to explore the futures of food in 2050 and beyond.

    Learn more.

  • Employment in 2030 Action Labs

    A multi-phased research initiative translating labour market information into actionable solutions in YT, BC, MB, QC, NL.

    Learn more.

  • Imagining 2080

    A forum on Canada’s futures where 150 posibility-minded delegates gathered for three days in Hamilton, ON to explore possible futures for Canada in 2080.

    Learn more.

  • Centre for Quality and Design

    A project with the Quality and People-Centred care team to co-design the Centre for Quality & Design. 

    Learn more.

  • Futures of Prairie-Based Theatre

    A collaborative deep exploration into the preferred futures of theatre in the Canadian prairies.

    Learn more.

  • My Future Home Forum

    National and regional workshops with youth, newcomers and seniors exploring their preferred housing futures.

    Learn more.

  • People-Centred Care Strategy

    Development of an ambitious five-year plan that puts patients, community, hospital staff and physicians at the centre.

    Learn more.

  • 2023 - 2027 Corporate Strategic Plan

    A future-focused and participatory approach to developing the Region of Waterloo’s strategic plan.

    Learn more.

  • Maker Space 2030

    A creative workshop to explore, experiment, and interrogate preferred futures of Canada’s arts sector as part of Mass Culture’s ASO conference.

    Learn more.

  • Non-Profit Think Tank on the Futures of Work

    Facilitation of an interactive conference workshop exploring emerging trends and possible implications.

    Learn more.

  • Think Like a Futurist

    Facilitation of a board of directors strategy session exploring the possible futures of creative industries in Ontario.

    Learn more.

  • Calgary 2035 Scenarios & Toolkit

    Development of a strategic foresight toolkit to support future-focused decision making across the City of Calgary.

    Learn more.

  • Futures of Work Training Series

    A two-part online professional development program for career practitioners

    Learn more.

  • Futures of Ontario Galleries

    Facilitation of a hands-on strategic foresight professional development workshop for gallery leaders.

    Learn more.

  • CIFAR in 2040

    External interviews and a staff retreat to inform the future organizational strategy.

    Learn more.

Strategy evaluation and refinement.

  • Future-Focused Facilities Planning

    Development of a future-focused assessment to support the City’s Corporate Facility Portfolio Plan.

    Learn more.

  • 10-Year Action Plan

    Translating an ambitious 10-year growth plan into tangible actions that anticipate the range of changes impacting the futures of early learning.

    Learn more.

  • Remote Work Policy

    An exploration of the futures of work at the City to inform Calgary’s remote work policy.

    Learn more.

Keynotes and conferences.

  • Biome Summit 2024

    Creative Futures designed and delivered a 60 minute Master Class, “Creating the Healthcare Systems of Tomorrow: How to Make Future-Informed Decisions”

    Learn more.

  • Imagining 2080

    A forum on Canada’s futures where 150 posibility-minded delegates gathered for three days in Hamilton, ON to explore possible futures for Canada in 2080.

    Learn more.

  • Bold New World

    A closing keynote presentation exploring three radically optimistic futures of public and nonprofit sector leadership.

    Learn more.

  • The New Normal

    A keynote address exploring possible futures of work in a post-COVID context.

    Learn more.

What clients say about us.

  • Karen Thorne-Stone, President & CEO, Ontario Creates

    “Creative Futures created a thoughtful and tailored presentation for our team. The session was an excellent introduction to futurist approaches and Jessica and Heather were great at finding ways to garner participation and engagement from all in an online format. Thank you!”

  • Karim Pabani, Leader, Strategy & Planning, Infrastructure Calgary

    “Creative Futures helped The City of Calgary visualize possible long-term future scenarios, helping us determine solutions and actions beyond reacting to the present moment. Highly professional, personable and competent, they produced exactly what we were looking for, on-time and budget. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to navigate through an ever increasingly complex and changing future.”

  • Sean Molloy, Director, Quality, Patient and Family Centred Care and Care Transitions

    “We were looking for a partner that could help us frame a transformational new strategy related to People-Centred Care at North York General and the team at Creative Futures were very effective in helping us get there. They bring a fresh approach to strategic planning that blends traditional organizational strategy with foresight to future-proof the work we do. They are a pleasure to work with and highly recommend them to anyone that is looking at building an innovative strategy for their organization.”

  • Heather Galbraith, Program Lead, Resilience & Infrastructure Calgary

    “The team at Creative Futures know and care about their craft deeply. They have an appetite and aptitude to understand not only the domain of the project they are working on, but also the broader context that informs it. Through my projects with them I have both learned from their approach and insights, and had fun while doing it!”

  • Pamela Uppal, Director, Public Policy at Ontario Nonprofit Network

    “Creative Futures took our vision for engaging nonprofits in a virtual think tank and brought it to life for 90 minutes where participants learned something new and contributed on a complex topic.”

  • Glory Ressler, Director of Strategy, Policy and Quality Assurance, Mothercraft

    “Working with Jessica and Heather from Creative Futures was both a productive and pleasant experience. I found them to be very flexible while still managing to maintain focus on the ultimate goal of an expansion plan and roadmap that our Board could endorse. They are truly collaborative and offered excellent support on a critical piece of work for Mothercraft!”

  • Sean Mullin, Executive Director, Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship

    “Heather and Jessica lead a national, complex, multi-stakeholder project that required a number of pivots to respond to changing pandemic conditions. The team at Creative Futures brought the latest in innovative engagement methodologies to deliver high value for partners, participants and funders. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, I didn’t worry about year-long initiative because I was confident it was always in the best hands.”

  • Graham Sucha, Community Engagement Specialist, Cybera

    “Jessica Thornton and Heather Russek provided an engaging and meaningful dialogue at our conference on the future of work and what to expect in the years to come. They were able to tailor their message to our diverse audience and ensure the attendees were engaged and participating, even on a virtual platform. They were also able to pivot their presentation to accommodate changes that were brought on by the pandemic.”

  • Heather Davis-Fisch, Director, School of Creative Arts, University of the Fraser Valley

    “Creative Futures provided us with an outside perspective on our strengths and opportunities, and helped us clarify a range of dynamic possibilities for future directions. Heather and Jessica gave us a clear and flexible strategy for moving forward that took into account uncertainties and changes in media arts and performance that we can't yet anticipate.”

  • Christine Brubaker, Theatre Director, Actor and Educator, University of Calgary

    “Working with Jessica and Heather through a strategic foresight process helped many of us who are thinking deeply about the future of the performance sector move through the tangle and complexity of this moment. We’re not leaving this complexity behind, of course, rather we are harnessing it to envision new possibilities.”

  • Pauline Yick, Chief Operating Officer, CIFAR

    “Heather and Jessica are fantastic consultants. They are extremely responsive, collaborative and our final report was one of the best I have ever seen. I would highly recommend them and would work with them again!”

 In the news.

Our work has been featured in:

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