Ruth Shaber, MD, is a changemaker and innovator, moving from a 25-year career as an OBGYN and senior executive at Kaiser Permanente to empowering women across finance and healthcare. She is the founder and president of Tara Health Foundation, a philanthropic investment group that uses evidence-informed programs to promote women's well-being and opportunities. She is also the co-founder and board chair of Rhia Ventures, a collective of foundations and investors committed to bringing new types of capital to the reproductive health field.She recently co-published a book, The XX Edge: Unlocking Higher Returns and Lower Risk, which uncovers the evidence that when women are in control of capital, both financial and social returns are stronger and organizational risks are diminished. Ruth’s new philanthropic endeavor is building the Futura Foundation - a program that will support young Portuguese women in developing solutions to Portugal and the world’s biggest challenges.

Graça Fonseca is a Portuguese social scientist and public policy expert with extensive experience in governance, cultural policy, social innovation and participatory democracy policies. She served as Portugal's Minister of Culture (2018-2022) and previously as Secretary of State for Administrative Modernization (2015-2018), where she pioneered the world's first national-level participatory budget. As Lisbon City Councilor (2009-2015), she spearheaded the city's transformation into a leading entrepreneurial hub, developing the Lisbon Economy and Entrepreneurship Strategy that led to Lisbon being named "European Entrepreneurial City of the Year" in 2015. She also pioneered the Lisbon Participatory Budget, giving citizens direct decision-making power over municipal investments. Currently, Graça Fonseca is a co-founder and board member of the Futura Foundation, which supports young Portuguese women addressing global challenges. She also teaches, and her work spans multiple advisory roles with national and international organizations focused on arts, democracy, climate, and future generations. In 2023, she was distinguished as a "Democratic Innovator of the 21st Century" by the Apolitical Foundation for her contributions to participatory democracy and citizen-centered policy development.

Glenn Barnes believes in the power of the human heart and the written word. Like many, he is outraged and heartbroken by many of today’s political trends. He believes the work of Futura can, in part, help redirect some of these trends. Glenn is a retired attorney and professor of law. He currently serves as Vice Chair of the Board of the Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity (PLSE), a non-profit organization offering free legal representation to low-income persons in underserved communities. Glenn taught undergraduate legal studies at Peirce College, a school focused on adult learners, whose student population was approximately 80% female, and 80% Black and Brown persons. He served as President of The Mid-Atlantic Academy of Legal Studies in Business and editor of the Atlantic Law Journal. Glenn has been writing poetry for over 50 years. He studied under the human rights activist and poet Carolyn Forché, and worked with the poets Albert Goldbarth, A.R. Ammons and Shann Ray. He was a Pew Fellowship in the Arts finalist in poetry, and a past winner of the Philadelphia City Paper “Best Poem of the Year”. His work has been published in various places, most recently in the anthology, We Are All God’s Poems (Unsolicited Press, 2024).

Leonor is the Operations Manager at Futura, where she oversees programs, partnerships, and internal development. She plays a key role in designing and coordinating Futura initiatives, including the Future Tense Podcast, Lisbon Literary Review Journal, Fellowship, and the mapping of Portugal’s impact landscape, ensuring that creativity is supported by clear structures and collaborative systems. Before joining Futura, she worked with Gaia Education, managing international projects on sustainability and regenerative development, and at the United Nations in Monitoring & Evaluation, contributing to data-driven strategies for social impact. Trained in chemical engineering with a Master’s in Social Entrepreneurship, she combines analytical rigor with a deep belief in imagination as a tool for change. Outside of work, she enjoys playing padel, musical theater, and connecting with people who inspire new ideas.

Futura is led by future thinkers, builders, & creatives imagining new possibilities.