Natalie Nixon, PhD changes lives through ideas. She is a creativity strategist who happily integrates wonder and rigor into her life and work. She converted a 16-year career as a professor into a successful consulting practice. At Figure 8 Thinking, she emboldens leaders and organizations to apply creativity & foresight for transformative business results.  Clients have included Comcast, Bloomberg, Vanguard and Living Cities. Natalie incorporates her background in anthropology and fashion, as well as her experiences living in Brazil, Israel, Germany, Sri Lanka, and Portugal to help her clients become more dynamic versions of themselves.

She is a global speaker and the author of The Creativity Leap: Unleash Curiosity, Improvisation and Intuition at Work; the editor of Strategic Design Thinking: Innovation in Products, Services, Experiences, and Beyond; and a regular contributor to Inc. magazine on creativity, design thinking and the future of work. Natalie’s board experience includes: Trustee of Vassar College; The Philadelphia Art Commission; the Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce; and The Charter High School for Architecture & Design (CHAD).

Natalie earned a BA (honors) in Anthropology and Africana Studies from Vassar College; an MS in Global Textile Marketing from Thomas Jefferson University; and a PhD in Design Management from the University of Westminster in London. She is also certified as a Foresight Practitioner by the Institute for the Future.

When she’s not dancing up a storm in hip-hop class, she’s fine-tuning her foxtrot, salsa, and tango on the ballroom floor. She lives in her hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with her husband, John Nixon, and is the proud stepmother of Sydney.