About
Graham Leicester
I am Director of International Futures Forum (IFF) – an organisation originally established in 2001 with a generous grant from BP. It’s mission is to restore effectiveness in action in a world of boundless complexity, radical interconnectedness, and rapid change. IFF refers to this as a ‘conceptual emergency’. Given the birth of the organisation in Scotland, the work has been framed from the start as ‘the search for a second enlightenment’.
IFF takes on complex, messy, seemingly intractable challenges facing government, business, and communities. In these settings, it generates practical hope and provokes wise initiative.
My specialist expertise are in the fields of governance, innovation, education, and the arts (I’m a former professional cellist). I previously ran Scotland’s leading think tank, the Scottish Council Foundation, founded in 1997. From 1984-1995, I served as a diplomat in HM Diplomatic Service, specialising in China (I speak Mandarin Chinese) and the EU (including as Private Secretary to the Minister for Europe).