MARQUES D. ANDERSON
I am a cyborg anthropologist, innovator and world builder. Seeking to be globally impactful, I created the World Education Foundation in 2009 while writing my Master’s thesis for the Adult Learning and Global Change program at Linkoøping University in Sweden. The WE Foundation’s mission and aim focuses on bridging the gap between academia, technology and implementation in local communities around the world. Since its conception, I have had the opportunity to travel to over 80 countries and have worked in 21 of those countries, listening for challenges at the intersection of humans, society and ecology. As a visionary and effective communicator, I am a speaker, writer and entrepreneur currently mobilizing my experience and expertise to help multiple businesses, industries, and communities re-imagine the future. I develop clear strategies and frameworks to approach complex challenges and articulate purpose driven solutions through keynotes and client sessions.
My experiences with global cultures and communities has guided my work to focus at the nexus of indigenous wisdom, modern technology and future communities, while interweaving multiple paradigms applied based on context. After being based in Oslo, Norway for 10 years, I was recognized and selected in 2017 to participate in the Global Solutions Program hosted by Singularity University and NASA, bringing me back to my home state of California. Spawned from that program, I became the Founder and CEO of Urban Matrix One, which utilizes satellite technology, unique data sets and machine learning to quantify financial, social and climate related impact for global infrastructure projects.
My philosophy leans on his background as a Cyborg Anthropologist, which activates discourse around the intra-connections between humans and machines, along with humans and the planet. With a quantum physicists perspective he makes the claim that everything is connected and as we are creating technology, technology is also creating us.
Through this lens I have evolved into a global thought leader discussing topics spanning education, equity, diversity, urban and rural regeneration practices, transition design, future of work, cyborg anthropology, consciousness in sport, equity and racial justice, and the purpose of personal and organizational transformation.
Having had a five-year career as an elite athlete in the NFL, I have embodied and experienced team work, discipline, grit and the passion to be a champion in multiple fields.