Jeff Yang

Jeff Yang, Research Director and Head of the Digital Intelligence Lab at the Institute for the Future

Jeff Yang is a veteran strategy and communications professional with a diverse career in media, research, and consulting. He currently serves as the Research Director and Head of the Digital Intelligence Lab at the Institute for the Future, a nonprofit think tank based in Los Angeles.3

In this role, Yang leads IFTF's research on societal, cultural, and technological trends associated with digital platforms, with a particular focus on digital influence, the spread of information and disinformation, and emerging online subcultures and narrative storyworlds.1

Prior to joining IFTF, Yang held several notable positions:

• Principal and Partner at Metafo.re, a data-driven cultural analysis, content strategy, and consumer insights firm1
• Head of Global Futures and Vice President of Cultural Strategy at sparks & honey, an Omnicom-owned startup that uses big data analysis to predict future cultural shifts and consumer behavior1
• Senior Vice President at The Futures Company, where he was a senior trends and futures consultant covering media, entertainment, technology, transnationalism, and globalization1
• Columnist for The Wall Street Journal ("Tao Jones"), CNN Opinion, and SFGate.com (the website of the San Francisco Chronicle)1

Yang has also authored several books, including "Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology" which he edited1, and "RISE: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now", which he co-wrote with Phil Yu and Philip Wang.2

He holds a B.A. in Psychology from Harvard University, with major coursework in East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Critical Studies, and Literature.1