#23: How to Build a Future-Adaptive Association with Jeff De Cagna of Foresight First LLC

The Association Adviser Podcast

How do you prepare your association for a future full of unknowns? That’s the big question we tackle in today’s episode with Jeff De Cagna, AIMP, DAIG, FRSA, FASAE,

Executive Advisor of Foresight First LLC.

With more than three decades in the association world, Jeff is known for challenging leaders to embrace the duty of foresight—to anticipate disruption, rethink old assumptions, and set their organizations up to thrive in the long term.

In this conversation, Christine and Jeff dig into the forces reshaping associations today and how they can be transformed into reconnecting with community and purpose. Along the way, Jeff shares practical strategies for building a stronger future—shifting from complacency to care, fostering cooperation over competition, and making decisions with the next generation in mind.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to recapture the original purpose of your association.
• Practical steps to boost adaptability and resilience.
• Ways to navigate AI without losing sight of your mission.
• The enduring principles that have always guided associations.
• How to steward your organization for future generations.

About our guest:

Jeff De Cagna, AIMP, DAIG, FRSA, FASAE, Executive Advisor of Foresight First LLC, is an association contrarian, foresight practitioner, governing designer, stakeholder and successor advocate, and stewardship catalyst. He is the curator and editor of the Future of Association Boards (FAB) Community Dialogue, presented in partnership with Impexium. In 2019, Jeff became the 32nd recipient of the Academy of Leaders Award, ASAE’s highest individual honor awarded to consultants or industry partners for outstanding contributions to the association community.

Resources:

Recommended Reading: Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI

Explore more on preparing your association for the future.

Visit: AssociationAdviser.com

Connect with Foresight First LLC & Jeff De Cagna:

LinkedIn: @ForesightFirstLLC & @JeffDeCagna

Facebook: @ForesightFirstLLC

X: @ForesightFirstLLC

Visit: https://foresightfirst.io/

Connect with us:

LinkedIn: @NaylorAssociationSolutions

Christine Shaw: [email protected]

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