Dr. Claire A. Nelson

About the Artist

Dr. Claire Nelson is Chief Ideation Leader of The Futures Forum, a research and education practice specializing in bringing the power of strategic foresight, and the discipline of sustainability engineering to challenges facing organizations and communities. Nelson, named on Forbes as one of the top 50 female futurists in the world, is author of the game-changing book “SMART Futures for a Flourishing World: A Paradigm for Advancing Global Sustainability”.   Dr. Nelson, an award-winning writer and storyteller, has developed a new genre of storytelling ‘prospective memoir’ and performed her one woman show ‘Moon Runnings: The Life & Times of the First Jamaican on the Moon’ at the ASU Emerge Festival of the Future, the Museum of Science Fiction, and the Salzburg Seminar.  Her most recent work ‘Red Sky Falling’ is an interrogation of humanity’s seeming rush to self-destruction told as creation mythology, in the style of lyrical prose. An accomplished storyteller in the Caribbean folk tradition, her beloved character ‘Cousin Clara’ and one-woman show ‘Limbo Like This’ has been well received by Caribbean audiences across America on radio and live performances. Her full-length comedy ‘Resident Alien’ has played to sellout crowds in Kingston, Bridgetown, and Atlanta.  Her other work includes docudramas: ‘Jobs Tale’ about slavery and emancipation; ‘Rivers of Blood’ won Best Director at the Source New Play Festival in Washington DC; and a musical folk play ‘Number Ten Downing Street’ which won a Silver Medal in the Jamaica Literary Festival. She served as Artistic Director of Mudra Caribe Dancers and Caribbean Heritage Group from 1982-1992, directing community theater and choreographing and curating folkloric full-length concerts around Washington DC metro area including, at the Smithsonian, Wolf Trap, Kennedy Center, and World Bank, to name a few.  A social entrepreneur, Dr. Nelson is Founding President of the Institute of Caribbean Studies, the leading Caribbean-American organization and celebrated as the Founding  Chair of the Campaign for June as National Caribbean American Heritage Month, proclaimed by President Bush in 2006 and Executive Producer of the National Caribbean American Heritage Awards. Dr. Nelson holds a Doctorate in Engineering Management from George Washington University (1990) has won numerous awards for community leadership and was named a White House Champion of Change in 2012.