Rachel Hatch serves as Chief Operating Officer of Institute for the Future, a nonprofit organization based in Palo Alto, California USA (www.iftf.org). For more than 55 years, IFTF has pursued the mission of helping organizations, communities and leaders become future-ready. Their vision? A world that harnesses long-term thinking to create more equitable, sustainable societies.
She co-leads two IFTF practice areas: Community-Based Foresight, and Foresight Essentials for Philanthropy (enrollment information here: https://www.iftf.org/foresightessentials/for-individuals/foresight-essentials-for-philanthropy/) and their work was just featured in the Chronicle of Philanthropy https://www.philanthropy.com/article/futurism-is-having-a-moment-in-post-pandemic-foundation-strategy.
Previously, she was a Senior Program Officer at The McConnell Foundation, a private philanthropic foundation where she led community vitality grantmaking, public engagement, and impact investments. This included public-private partnerships to win place-based investments from California’s Strategic Growth Council, Caltrans, CA Housing and Community Development, and the California Energy Commission; as well as Low Income Housing Tax Credits and New Markets Tax Credit funding from CDFIs and CDEs.
Now, she is bridging foresight with her passion for community vitality where she lives on unceded Wintu land (currently known as Redding, CA) as a committed volunteer for Native Roots Network (www.nativerootsnetwork.org). Together, they have secured funding from the California Strategic Growth Council for an Indigenous-led Community Resilience Center, Əl Kulus, a culturally-centered climate resilience & emergency response center.
Rachel serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for California Humanities and holds masters degrees from Trinity College Dublin and Yale Divinity School.