Shermon Cruz, APF

Shermon Cruz is an award-winning and globally recognized futurist, the Chair of The Millennium Project Philippines Node, and the first UNESCO Chair on Anticipatory Governance and Regenerative Cities in the Philippines at Northwestern University.

As the Director and Chief Futurist of the Center for Engaged Foresight, he has trained over 10,000 professionals and provided consulting services in 30+ countries. He is a sought-after futurist, advisor, and thought leader who previously served as a senior foresight expert for the Asian Development Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Open Society Foundation, the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP Mindanao, DAP Center for Strategic Futures, and its Graduate Program), the Senate Committee on Futures Thinking, Innovation and the SDGs, the House of Representatives, the United Nations Development Programme, the National Academy of Science and Technology, UNESCO, UNDESA, UNHCR, USAID, OECD, ASEAN, NATO, and CSIRO Data61, among others — including national government agencies such as the Philippine Reclamation Authority, the National Security Council, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, Bureau of Fire Protection, the Philippine National Police, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine Navy, Philippine Army, the Philippine Public Safety College, the Department of Health, the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, the National Economic and Development Authority, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of Science and Technology, and TESDA — and governments including those of Saudi Arabia, the United States, Singapore, Malaysia, Laos, Switzerland, Cambodia, Indonesia, Uruguay, the United Arab Emirates, India, and Thailand — as well as Philippine corporates such as Aboitiz, Ayala, SM, San Miguel Brewery, Security Bank, SGV, Accenture, Maxicare, GCash, PwC, EY, Google Philippines, NewPort Resorts, and others.

Shermon has published more than a dozen articles and serves as an editor and peer reviewer for top foresight journals, including the Journal of Futures Studies, Foresight, the World Futures Review, and Compass. He has also contributed to several book chapters, including the Handbook of Futures Studies and Transforming the Future: Anticipation in the Twenty-First Century. He prepared more than a hundred scenarios and related foresight and planning reports for clients and partners around the world. He recently received a Higher Degree by Research Scholarship from the University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia and the Government of Australia for his PhD candidacy in Futures Studies and Human Society.

He has previously served twice as Chair of the Association of Professional Futurists, currently the Founding Chair of the Global South Futures Community and a member of the World Futures Studies Federation. As an academic, he is currently an Adjunct Faculty member and Director of the Futures Thinking Program of the School of Executive Education and Lifelong Learning at the Asian Institute of Management and Adjunct Faculty at the Ateneo Center for Continuing Education. He has taught futures studies and foresight research at the Development Academy of the Philippines, the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Executive Education Program, the Philippine Public Safety College, the Philippine Public Safety Academy, the University of the Philippines, the Dubai Future Academy, and Northwestern University.

He served for almost ten years in the corporate sector in Risk Management, Crisis Management and Business Continuity Planning as Lead, Manager, Senior Analyst and Senior Consultant for companies such as PriceWaterHouse Coopers, Accenture, Ernst & Young, and John Clements Consulting.

He is the inventor of the award-winning foresight game Dreams and Disruptions and was recognized by the Asia Pacific Futures Network for his contributions to expanding futures studies and foresight research in the Asia Pacific. He received a futures education award at the Education 2.0 Leadership Awards held in Las Vegas in 2024 and earned a special honorable mention from the Association of Professional Futurists in 2025. He was an Early Social Scientist Recipient from the Global South by the World Social Science Forum and the International Social Science Council in 2014 for his piece Alternative Social Science Futures.