Ruben Nelson has been fascinated by the future for over 40 years. Today, he is committed to understanding societal change and working to create a humane future society that truly fits the merging conditions of the 21st Century.
In 1960, as an undergraduate at Queen’s, he organized Canada’s first formal conference on the future. Since then, rather than do “real work,” he has pursued his passion as a pioneer of a knowledge-based economy. As a result, Ruben is now recognized as a big picture strategic thinker who is Canada’s most widely experienced professional futurist. As such, he is a think tank facilitator, keynote speaker and media commentator.
Ruben is invited to conferences, boardrooms and church basements to explore the forces that are shaping our future and what we could do in response to them, if we truly knew what we were doing.
Ruben was born in Calgary when it was an agricultural service centre of 100,000. Over the years, he studied and taught at both Queen’s University and the University of Calgary. He has lived in India and worked in Ottawa. In the late 1980s, Ruben directed Canada’s only research project into our transition to a post-Industrial society and economy. He has advised CEOs and Cabinet Ministers from Victoria to Halifax. Ruben also has a rich experience with voluntary organizations – at both the practical and policy levels.
Today, Ruben is well respected by his peers.
He the only Canadian who is a Fellow of the World Business Academy, the World Academy of Art and Science and the Meridian International Institute for Leadership, Governance, Change and the Future.
- He is also a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International.
- He is a Director of the Enviros Wilderness School.
- He is Vice Chair of the Creating Tomorrow Foundation and President of both the Alliance for Capitalizing on Change and Square One Management Ltd.
- Ruben lives in the Alberta Rockies with Heather, his wife of 42 years, and their three cats.
Ruben challenges us to become wise and effective agents of transforming change, rather than victims of history. He calls us to the work of preparing ourselves and our institutions to face and meet the emerging challenges and opportunities of the 21st Century.
Academy Articles by Ruben Nelson
- Four quadrant leadership: Creating Profound Change
- Reflections on Our Core Work in the 21st Century
