Mary OHara Devereaux Speaker Biography
Mary O’Hara-Devereaux, Ph.D., is one of the world’s leading futurists and business forecasters, a sought-after keynote speaker, and the author of such best-selling books as Navigating the Badlands: Thriving in the Decade of Radical Transformation.
Over the last 25 years, Mary has established a global reputation as a steady-eyed forecaster and strategy partner whose legendary trend-spotting and analysis have helped thousands of senior executives around the world scan, scout, and steer their way to targets no one else can see. Mary accurately forecast the period of chaos, disruption, and unrivalled opportunity that will last another decade.
Now—in her famously provocative and pragmatic dispatches from the frontlines of the future—she makes sense of the extraordinary economic and social fault lines that are re-shaping the future of business and reveals the specific implications for any organization that hopes to thrive in turbulent times.
Mary’s deep cross-industry, cross-sector experience includes work for a roster of Blue Chip clients in more than 50 countries on seven continents—global corporate clients such as Apple, Oracle, P&G, CITIC-Pacific, Genentech, Royal Canadian Bank, Merck, Ericsson, and pre-eminent non-profit leaders including United Way, Kaiser Family Foundation, World Bank, Harvard Kennedy School, and Milken Global Institute.
Founder and CEO of a San Francisco-based think tank and strategy consulting firm and former Director of the Institute for the Future in Silicon Valley, Mary is renowned for her myth-busting insights that are at once profound, provocative, and pragmatic. Her finger-on-the-pulse forecasting and strategy engagements have fuelled top leaders to propel their companies to long-term sustainable profits.
A China expert, Mary’s books China Five-Year Forecast: Creating the New Marketplace and China’s Generations: the Transformation of Daily Life are considered the "Bibles" for business leaders wanting to engage successfully in the world’s most important emerging market.
Mary’s work has been featured on Bloomberg TV, Fox TV, CCTV in China, National Public Radio, AARP Radio, and other regional and local radio shows; and in the Wall Street Journal Asia, the Los Angeles Times and other magazines and journals. Mary serves on several corporate and non profit boards. Recently a professor at Peking University, she has previously served as faculty at the University of California. She holds degrees from the University of Michigan; the University of California; and Fielding Graduate University.
Mary’s best-selling Navigating the Badlands, the classic GlobalWork: Bridging Distance, Culture & Time, and her China Five-Year Forecast expand on many of the themes she introduces in her keynote presentations.
Mary OHara Devereaux Speaking Topics
Economy in Upheaval—Strategies for Navigating Uncharted Waters
We are in the midst of a global economic upheaval of unprecedented magnitude. In response to a demand from clients, Mary is keeping her core 2008-2011 forecast—which remains spot-on—updated with fresh insights, sense-making and truth-telling to help leaders understand the shifting context for executive decision-making and what it means to me a leader in today's world. The forecast's contents, with additional material customized for your organization, are now also available as a keynote or executive briefing. In one dense but lively session, you will learn timely new information about the economy, gain a deeper understanding of the financial bailout underway, learn what pitfalls to avoid in these perilous times, and preview some likely scenarios for when—and how—it will all end. You'll leave armed with the knowledge and strategies you need to be proactive rather than reactive in the months and years ahead.
Fault Lines: Eight Trends That Will Disrupt Your Future
Powerful driving forces are working synergistically to sculpt a new economic and social landscape. The result? Deep fault lines that force new choices for all of us to make as individuals and businesses. In this provocative, energizing keynote Mary reveals the eight trends that are creating strategic imperatives guaranteed to disturb your status quo. Learn about some surprising demographic shifts; preview what's on the technology horizon; hear Mary's insider view of China; and discover the truth about the economy, the future of food, and more. Mary provides a customized set of implications for your group or company
The Edge of the World: Beyond Tomorrow
Jump in Mary's future's helicopter and take a ride beyond tomorrow to 2015-2025. What will we find in the far foothills of the future, beyond the Badlands? What are we fairly certain about, and what are the wild cards? This thought-provoking keynote will give you a view or two—grounded in over 25 years of forecasting and futures research—of what's likely next in the long term and tell you what you need to do to prepare for it.
Fueling Innovation: Game-Changing Strategies for Firing Up Your Profitability
The future won't resemble the past. Organizations—if they want to prosper long term—need to "morph" continuously in response to new opportunities. This high-octane keynote offers a strategic road map designed to help your organization leapfrog over old, ingrained habits and spark an epidemic of innovation to fuel your future profitability. Learn how to reduce barriers to innovation and harness disruptive trends to find unseen targets and seed game-changing strategies.
Favorable Winds: What's Next in China's Marketplace—a Five-Year Forecast
Gain an insider's view of the challenges of entering China's vast marketplace as China morphs, sputters, and explodes again after the Beijing Olympics. Whether you're new to China or a seasoned leader who needs to make course corrections, you'll come away with insights and strategies designed to help you succeed behind the Bamboo Curtain.
The Future of Work: Warning! Extreme Transformation Ahead
We are just at the beginning of profound changes across the whole world of work. Not only will individual knowledge workers be in the driver's seat, but most of tomorrow's knowledge workers will be women. Learn six powerful shifts that will radically reshape individual work and organizational life over the next 10 years—and take home actionable insights as an organization and worker that will increase your readiness to thrive in this brave new world.
Mary OHara Devereaux Books
Navigating the Badlands: Thriving in this Decade of Radical Transformation
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