Sheryl Connelly

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT SHERYL CONNELLY

When Connelly speaks, the business world takes notice. While serving as Ford Motor Company\'s Chief Futurist, she was named one of Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business”, identified as one of the top Female Futurist by Forbes and listed among TechWeek’s “Top 100 Innovators.” Her thought leadership and strategic viewpoints have been featured in leading publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Financial Times, Forbes, and the BBC. She has also appeared on CBS’s “This Morning,” CNBC’s “Fast Money,” and NPR’s “All Things Considered.” She has spoke at TED Global and TED Unplugged, guest lectured at University of Michigan Ross School, UCLA Berkeley Haas School of Business, and Michigan State University and served on the Advisory Council on Transportation to the World Economic Forum. Sheryl Connelly was the Chief Futurist for Ford Motor Company. She retired in 2022 after 27 years of service to Ford. For nearly 20 years, she was globally responsible for creating a Center of Excellence for global consumer trend insights and futuring mindset to support long-term strategy across the enterprise. Connelly led a team of researchers, engineers, marketers, and anthropologists tasked with tracking trends, spotting signals of change, and identifying outliers to develop uniquely compelling insights designed to test the power innovation across the enterprise. Data-driven insights collected by Connelly and her team were pivotal to all aspects of Ford’s operations, including corporate strategy, product development, and design. Prior to joining Ford’s trends team, Connelly spent eight years in various marketing, sales, and service field positions at the company. She began her unconventional career path practicing law.