Andrew Zolli

Executive Director, PopTech; Author, Resilience: The Science of Why Things Bounce Back

Challenging corporate partners, thought leaders, and innovators to create breakthrough solutions to the world's most pressing problems in climate,
health, energy and poverty.



Highlights

Inspiring and engaging, Andrew Zolli asks people to think differently about how their work can change the world. In his roles as futurist, catalyst and social entrepreneur: Andrew’s achievements make him a major force for positive change:

As a futurist, Andrew builds upon his foundation as a demographer to turn data into identifiable trends and implementable action plans for business. As founder of Z + Partners, the futures research, ideation and design strategy think tank, he has worked with organizations such as GE, Sun Microsystems, and the United Nations.

As a catalyst, Andrew is the curator of PopTech, and has evolved the one-time forum for ideas, into an action-oriented breeding ground for real-world change agents and the incubator for visionary global programs.

As a Social Entrepreneur, Andrew leads PopTech’s Accelerator Laboratory, developing multidisciplinary collaborations that bring together thought leaders, scientists, technologists, designers, corporate sponsors, and community members to create dozens of innovative breakthroughs.

Accelerator initiatives are tackling medical diagnostics, the effects of climate change, providing mobile services to the poor and disadvantaged, and revolutionary ways of genetically inventorying and conserving the world’s biodiversity.

Moving nimbly and trying new ideas Andrew and his people grasp opportunities that other organizations might miss. Current projects taking place under the aegis of Andrew’s PopTech Accelerator include:

Project M, a path-breaking effort to connect people in South Africa with public health programs via cell phones and text messaging, in a new effort to stop the HIV/AIDS and TB epidemics in that country.

Water monitoring As a futurist, Andrew saw the growing problem of water scarcity. Now, he and his group are developing water monitoring technologies and are on the forefront of the effort to bring water to undeveloped, drought threatened regions of the world.

Sustainability and clean technology Andrew’s teams are exploring materials design; developing sustainable material alternatives especially in the areas of apparel and packaged goods.

The overarching philosophy guiding all of these projects is "resilience". As Andrew puts it:

"We live in a world of inevitable surprise, a world where systems — natural and manmade — are linked in ways we cannot understand or even imagine. In this increasingly complex, high tech environment, an unanticipated confluence of factors has the ability to create calamity on unprecedented scale."

"Resilience" then is the ability to successfully respond to these unexpected and unpredictable challenges.

In his new book,

RESILIENCE: The Science of Why Things Bounce Back

Andrew draws on the sciences, psychology, economics, and technology to offer readers a tool kit of practical lessons that will enable businesses, governments, institutions, societies, and ecosystems to better "bounce back" in the midst of shock and change. As Andrew reminds us, if we can’t control the weather, we can build a better boat.

Zolli consults with executives in some of the most celebrated and farsighted companies in the world, forging new partnerships with institutions such as Harvard University, and major corporations such as GE, Nike, Microsoft, and together they are exploring and finding new ways to serve the planet.

Andrew’s work has appeared on National Public Radio and in The New York Times, BusinessWeek, Wired, Vanity Fair, Popular Science, Fast Company, American Demographic, among others; and he is frequently quoted in a variety of media.

As a speaker he is eloquent, energizing, and entertaining. In every talk Andrew offers industry-specific context for defining strategy responses to trends and new challenges, as well as a sense of excitement and urgency in responding to them intelligently.


Credentials

• Curator and Executive Director, PopTech
• Fellow, National Geographic Society
• One of Fast Company’s "Fast 50"
• Named to Vanity Fair's list of "The Next Establishment"

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