Jo Lepore is widely considered a leading voice in corporate foresight.
Jo led the establishment and expansion of futures capability first hand inside world-leading multinationals, McDonald’s and Mars Wrigley, partnering vertically with senior leadership teams including global CEOs, and horizontally across geographies with market MD’s in over 60 countries.
As the ‘in house futurist’, she elevated long term planning and created a cultural shift needed to adapt to changing consumer expectations and navigate complex market conditions.
Today, she is the Executive Vice President at insights company Dig, helping to bring future-ready strategies globally to research and innovation.
Mathias Behn Bjørnhof
Futurist & Founder, ANTICIPATE
Jo is one of the most respected voices in the foresight field. She brings a critical lens that always makes her perspective worth listening to – deeply reflective, clear in her communication of complexity, and committed to building communities that walk the talk.
Philip Ryan
Managing Partner, IPSOS Strategy3
Jo is one of those rare people you meet who immediately sparks your imagination. Her boundless energy, creative analysis and utter focus are what helps her envision the future and what it means for businesses today.
Rodrigo Olivares
Global VP R&D, Tropicana
Jo is one of the best business partners I have come across. She is able to push the organization’s business strategy forward by synthesizing future trends into actions that the business can execute today. She’s also collaborative, empathetic and thoughtful. It has been my privilege to work with her for nearly a decade.
While today she is known for foresight, she brings with her complimentary skills from marketing and innovation, from across FMCG, retail & food industries, at General Mills, SCA Hygiene and Devondale, Saputo Inc.
A strategist with over 15 years’ experience creating transformative growth pathways, Jo launched innovation that generated retail sales in the millions and identified billion dollar white space opportunities.
Jo is often asked to speak about future readiness at global events, academic institutions and podcasts. Her interviews and keynotes have provided provocative insights about future-preparedness at events like World Summit AI, Dubai Future Forum, CES, Venture Beat, IIEX, CX Leaders Forum and SXSW.
She’s also a Friend of the Forum, an organizing committee selected by the Dubai Future Foundation, for the largest gathering of futurists in the world, at the Dubai Future Forum.
An advocate for curiosity and differentiated thinking, Jo hosts the Looking Outside podcast to explore fresh business ideas, interviewing leading thinkers like Paul Saffo, Byron Sharp, Jonathon Keats, Amy Webb, Dr Marcus Collins and Matt Klein.
In 2024 she founded Foresight Inside Group (FIG), alongside peers at Disney, Adam Walker, and JLR, Ben Moncrieffe. A network for futures professionals within corporate foresight, FIG supports 11 members organizations resourcing for the future, including Nestle, PepsiCo, Shell, Google and AXA.
Jo holds Philosophy and Professional Writing degrees from Deakin University, a mini-MBA from Marketing Week with Mark Ritson, foresight certifications from the Institute for the Future and Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies, and additional qualifications in Marketing, Leadership, Change Management and Agile Innovation.
