Global Futurist Initiative
Home
Who we are
  • ABOUT
  • APPROACH
  • LEADERSHIP
What We Do
  • OUR WORK
  • CAST 4WARD
  • ASSEMBLOIDS
NEWS & BLOG
TAKE ACTION
NYC 2024
Global Futurist Initiative
Home
Who we are
  • ABOUT
  • APPROACH
  • LEADERSHIP
What We Do
  • OUR WORK
  • CAST 4WARD
  • ASSEMBLOIDS
NEWS & BLOG
TAKE ACTION
NYC 2024
More
  • Home
  • Who we are
    • ABOUT
    • APPROACH
    • LEADERSHIP
  • What We Do
    • OUR WORK
    • CAST 4WARD
    • ASSEMBLOIDS
  • NEWS & BLOG
  • TAKE ACTION
  • NYC 2024
  • Home
  • Who we are
    • ABOUT
    • APPROACH
    • LEADERSHIP
  • What We Do
    • OUR WORK
    • CAST 4WARD
    • ASSEMBLOIDS
  • NEWS & BLOG
  • TAKE ACTION
  • NYC 2024

OUR LEADERSHIP

RACHEL SVETANOFF, CO-FOUNDER

 Rachel is a young leader with a history of supporting efforts to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, contributing to 100+ projects with 112 organizations across 35 countries.  Rachel’s enthusiasm for the SDGs is second only to the causes she cares about within the Goals’ scope.  In her entrepreneurial pursuits, Rachel founded the SDG advocacy youth organization Global Futurist Initiative™, the community development consortium Project Energy for Life Cameroon, and her consulting practice. Through consulting, she has worked for institutions such as Sesame Workshop, Johnson & Johnson, Fashion Community Foundation, and Friends of the Global Fund U.S. to foster strategic partnerships for advancing their SDG-aligned objectives.  In one of her recent effort as the Foundations Partnerships Consultant for UNICEF USA, Rachel supported a $242 million portfolio by working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and  UN Foundation, among others, to align on safeguarding children’s and youth rights worldwide.  


 Rachel has held appointments that have also enabled her to promote the SDGs including the IMF, U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, Foreign Policy for America, AFS Youth Assembly, and United Nations Association of the USA. Rachel currently holds a Visiting Associateship of Policy & Practice at the University of Notre Dame Pulte Institute for Global Development where she is conducting U.S. policy research on the SDGs.  Receiving numerous appointments and 31 awards, Rachel is a sought-out speaker and actively contributes to publications on matters concerning youth, sustainable development and human rights. 


Born and raised in Northwest Indiana (colloquially referred to as The Region), Rachel received her BS in Chemistry and MBA from Purdue University as well as a MS in Global Health from the University Notre Dame. Receiving the 2023 Purdue Rising Professional honor as a Distinguished Alumna, she is becoming one of Purdue University’s most decorated young alumni with over 10 honors and scholarships throughout her Boilermaker journey.  

JULIA SAMSON, CO-FOUNDER

Julia is a youth advocate committed to empowering youth around the world, transforming the private sector, and much more. She currently works in sustainable finance and is passionate about the private sector's role in financing climate solutions and social impact initiatives. 


She is graduate from Columbia University with a Bachelor’s degree in Sustainable Development, while also studying Mandarin, Korean, and French. During her time at Columbia, Julia was captain of the NCAA D1 Women's Swim Team, in addition to a 2018-2019 Executive Board member of Columbia's LIGA Filipina. She was a Zhi-Xing US-China Young Leaders Fellow in Summer 2018 where she participated in geopolitical and economic development programming. Julia has been part of Columbia University’s International Research Institute for Climate and Society as a data analyst on the ACToday-Bangladesh project team working to improve climatic variability solutions for small-landholders in Bangladesh. 


Beyond her professional commitment, she has been involved in many youth engagement initiatives around the world. She served as a US Core lecturer in Harvard’s Summit for Young Leaders in China in 2020 and 2021 where she taught Climate Change-Development Economics and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. In Spring 2021, she founded the Sustainable Ocean Alliance NYC Hub working to bring awareness and drive innovation for local marine ecosystems in the New York City region. She is a 2021 speaker at the Wall Street Green Summit. She is also a listed mentor for The Trebuchet. 


Julia is committed to mobilizing SDG 18 Youth Equity around the world. 

STRATEGIC ADVISORS

BERNY MARTIN

DENISE HAYMAN-LOA

BERNY MARTIN

 Founder and President, Fashion Community Foundation

Read More

PETER FUSARO

DENISE HAYMAN-LOA

BERNY MARTIN

Senior Partner, ESG, Oxford Global Accelerated Ventures

Read more

DENISE HAYMAN-LOA

DENISE HAYMAN-LOA

DENISE HAYMAN-LOA

Founder and CEO, Carii, Inc.

Board of Trustees, Appel Farm

Read more

LUMBIE MLAMBO

SHERMAN TEICHMAN

SHERMAN TEICHMAN

Founder, President, and CEO,

 J.B. Dondolo, Inc.


Read More

SHERMAN TEICHMAN

SHERMAN TEICHMAN

SHERMAN TEICHMAN

Founding President, The Trebuchet

Founding Director Emeritus, Tufts Institute for Global Leadership

READ MORE

Copyright © 2023 Global Futurist Initiative™ 

This website uses cookies.

We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.

DeclineAccept