ASU Futurists Community of Practice
A community of ASU faculty, students, and staff exploring futures thinking and strategic foresight — together.
Overview & Goals
Whether you’re new to foresight or a seasoned practitioner or researcher, this community is for you. We foster collaboration, inspire new ways of engaging with plausible futures, and catalyze new projects and ideas across ASU and beyond.
Learn, share, and connect
Passionate about connecting with other futures thinkers across the university? We meet under the Chatham House Rule — you’re free to use what you learn, but the identity of speakers and participants stays private. That’s what keeps our conversations open and honest.
01 Showcase
How colleagues and students are applying futures thinking across ASU and beyond.
02 Deepen skills
Access to expert-led workshops and resources to grow your foresight practice.
03 Spark ideas
Thought-provoking discussions that challenge assumptions and open new directions.
05 Build networks
Lasting connections across fields that catalyze transdisciplinary collaboration.
Our Origin Story
Passionate about developing a culture of futures thinkers across ASU, and knowing that foresight is a team sport, I longed for a community that could gather futurists across the university. I reached out to fellow futurists I knew at the time: Sean Leahy and Ruth Wylie. I asked if they would be interested in building a community of practice of ASU faculty, staff, and students — and they immediately said yes.
On February 28, 2024, I emailed them the invitation to convene us all. On March 13, 2024, we agreed to co-lead and began planning our first year of operations. Each of us has worked incredibly hard — while still managing to have fun — in building the community it is today.
“We need sanctuaries for social imagination” – Alvin Toffler
Our aim is for this community to be such a sanctuary: a place where we inspire and get inspired by one another, and spark new ways of thinking, being, and doing. We invite you to join us.
With gratitude,
Bea Rodriguez-Fransen, Ed.D.
Where & when we meet
We can’t find one time that works for everyone, so we do the next best thing — meeting on different days to accommodate as many teaching and class schedules as possible. Meetings take place on Zoom unless otherwise specified.
Fall 2025 – 12:00pm-1:30pm
- Thursday – Sep 4, 2025
- Tuesday – Sep 30, 2025
- Monday – Nov 3, 2025
- Tuesday – Dec 2, 2025
Spring 2026 – 12:00pm-1:30pm
- Wednesday – Jan 14, 2026
- Tuesday – Feb 10, 2026
- Monday – Mar 2, 2026
- Thursday – Apr 9, 2026
Ready to think about the future together?
Signing up takes a minute. You’ll get meeting invitations, session reminders, and a standing invitation to bring your questions, projects, and provocations to the group.
Community Leadership
Convened and co-led by ASU futurists.
Bea Rodriguez-Fransen, Ed.D.
Founding Leader
Assistant Research Professor, Principled Innovation · Senior Global Futures Scholar, Global Futures Laboratory
Sean Leahy, Ph.D.
Founding Member
Associate Clinical Professor, Thunderbird School of Global Management – Executive Director, Future of Being Human Initiative · Senior Global Futures Scholar, College of Global Futures
Ruth Wylie, Ph.D.
Founding Member
Co-Director, Center for Science and the Imagination · Research Professor, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College · Senior Global Futures Scientist, Global Futures Laboratory