Richard Florida

In the last 5 years, Florida has penned two national bestsellers, The Rise of the Creative Class and The Flight of the Creative Class.

His new book, Who’s Your City? takes a look at the way that people choose the places they live and how that affects everything from their real estate to their families.

His previous books, especially The Breakthrough Illusion and Beyond Mass Production, paved the way for his provocative looks at how creativity is revolutionizing the global economy.

Florida has authored pieces for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Economist, The Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic Monthly, The Chronicle for Higher Education, U.S. News and World Report and more.

Richard Florida is one of the world’s leading public intellectuals on economic competitiveness, demographic trends, and cultural innovation.

Combining in-depth analysis, cutting-edge trends, and fascinating personal stories, it’s no wonder Florida – recently named one of Esquire Magazine’s ‘Best and Brightest’, alongside luminaries such as Andre Agassi and Jeffrey Sachs – is one of the world’s most sought after speakers.

Find out more about speaking opportunities email rana@creativeclass.com

Florida is Professor of Business and Creativity at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

Florida was a Heinz professor at Carnegie Mellon University, a visiting professor at Harvard and MIT, and a visiting fellow of the Brookings Institution. Florida earned his Bachelor's degree from Rutgers College and his Ph.D. from Columbia University.

As a result, he provides unique, data-driven insight into the social, economic and demographic factors that drive the 21st century world economy.

Also at Rotman, he is the Academic-Director of the Lloyd & Delphine Martin Prosperity Institute which takes an integrative approach to the study and creation of jurisdictional advantage.

Florida’s ideas on the “creative class”, commercial innovation, and regional development have been featured in major ad campaigns including BMW and are being used globally to change the way companies and regions compete in the creative age. He has addressed political parties, governors, mayors, creative companies, developers, nonprofits, arts and culture organizations as well as regions and cities. He is proud to have worked with a clientele that is as broad as his intellectual interests.