About the initiative
The Decolonizing Futures Initiative is an independent global initiative founded by Pupul Bisht that utilizes non-western folk storytelling as a tool for inclusion of marginalized voices, and cultural knowledge about the future in order to inform & inspire inclusive decision-making, planning, and innovation. The initiative was launched with an incubation funding of $25K received as part of the Next Generation Foresight Practitioners Award in 2018. Partners of the initiative include the Directorate of Education (Govt of Delhi), BareFoot College, NITI Aayog (Govt of India), Aide et International, and Youth Social Infrastructure (Canada).
About the Founder
Pupul is a multi-disciplinary designer and futurist and the Winner of the coveted Joseph Jaworski Next Generation Foresight Practitioners Award 2018. She founded the Decolonizing Futures Initiative in 2018— a global project that aims to engage marginalized communities in imagining their preferred futures. Recognized as a thought leader advocating for culturally inclusive practices in design, Pupul has been invited as a keynote speaker at prestigious international platforms such as the 76th United Nations General Assembly, ESPAS Conference (Brussels), UNESCO Global Futures Literacy Design Forum (Paris), PRIMER Conference (NYC), SDNow Conference (Australia), and the Global Foresight Summit among many other. As the on-screen talent for NAB Show Live— the largest show for media, entertainment and technology, Pupul annually curates & hosts the Animation panel in Las Vegas. She is the youngest founding member of Action Foresight's 'Global Swarm'— an internationally distributed team of design futurists, reachers, and innovators. The group worked with NESTA on developing a guide on Participatory Futures as well as designing a game to imagine new ways to involve people in thinking about the future. Pupul received her Bachelor of Design from the prestigious National Institute of Design, India and a Master of Design in Strategic Foresight & Innovation from OCAD University, Toronto.