Heather McGowan
Heather McGowan believes in outlearning the competition.
As an innovation strategist, she helps leaders react to rapid/disruptive changes in education, work, and society by rethinking their business models, teams, and organizational structures to become resilient.
Recognizing that business innovation begins with education—specifically, learning faster than your competition—she has worked with university presidents and corporate human resources managers to prepare both graduates and workers for jobs that do not yet exist.
Her corporate clients range from start-ups to publicly traded, Fortune 500 companies, including Autodesk and BD Medical. She was the strategic architect of the Kanbar College of Design, Engineering, and Commerce at Philadelphia University (now Jefferson), the first undergraduate college explicitly focused on innovation. And at Becker College, she crafted the Agile Mindset learning framework used to prepare students to work in an uncertain future.
Often quoted in the media—notably by NYT columnist Thomas Friedman—for her thought leadership in the Future of Work, McGowan also serves on the advisory board for Sparks & Honey, a New York-based culture-focused agency.
