Rachael’s work focuses on embedding futures literacy in education and youth-aligned contexts, from schools and youth-serving organisations to public institutions and new organisations being built from first principles. She combines futures methods with programme design and practitioner development to support young people not just to navigate uncertainty, but to shape it, and to equip those around them to help. Her work is grounded in the belief that the future is something to build, not something to fear.

Rachael Smith is a foresight practitioner and educator with over a decade of experience in education leadership and curriculum innovation, most recently as Group Head of Future Ready Learning at Charterhouse Asia. Currently based internationally, she brings a practitioner perspective to futures work, grounded in what’s possible under real conditions.
Through The Education Futurist, Rachael works with organisations in education, youth services, and the public sector, as well as those designing new institutions from first principles. She focuses on infusing futures literacy into curriculum, programmes, and practice, and supporting organisations to use the future to navigate present complexity, including challenges like AI and technological disruption. Her research at Edinburgh Futures Institute developed a participatory design thinking methodology for institutional change, integrating futures methods including scenarios, causal layered analysis, and the futures triangle.
Rachael has worked across the UK, Middle East, and South East Asia, including strategic foresight with international organisations and programme development in grassroots education settings in Pakistan. Her approach emphasises practical method design, bridging academic frameworks and implementation where time, resources, and capacity are limited.

Rachael holds an MSc with Distinction from Edinburgh Futures Institute and is a Teach First Ambassador. She also contributes to wider foresight work helping organisations explore alternative and preferred futures.