Richard Florida

Richard Florida is the author of the best-selling books The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure Community and Everyday Life and The Flight of the Creative Class. His latest book, Who’s Your City?, is also an international best-seller and provides the first ever ranking of cities by life-stages, rating the best place for singles, young families, empty-nesters, and more.

Cities and regions across the globe have embarked on new creativity strategies based on the thinking in Florida’s books. Rise of the Creative Class was awarded the Political Book Award for 2002 by the Washington Monthly and The Harvard Business Review named it one of the top breakthrough ideas for 2004. Florida and his book have been acclaimed in The New York Times as an "Organization Man" for our time, by showing how some of the most profound changes in our workplace and culture stem from a basic economic change - the emergence of a new social class.

Florida is a regular correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly and a regular columnist for The Globe and Mail. He has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Economist, and The Harvard Business Review and has been featured as an expert on MSNBC, CNN, BBC, NPR and CBS.

Florida has also been appointed to the Business Innovation Factory's Research Advisory Council and recently named European Ambassador for Creativity and Innovation.

He is one of the world's most sought after keynote speakers on global trends, economics, prosperity, competitiveness and growth. Combining in-depth analysis, cutting-edge trends, a fascinating personal story, and a touch of self-deprecating humor, it’s no wonder Florida was named one of Esquire Magazine’s Best and Brightest, alongside luminaries such as Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Sachs.