Graça Fonseca
Graça Fonseca is Chief Imagination Officer and Co-Founder of Futura Foundation. A social scientist specializing in governance, public policy, social innovation, and participatory democracy, she served as Portugal's Minister of Culture (2018–22). As Secretary of State for Administrative Modernization (2015–18), she pioneered the world's first national-level participatory budget. As Lisbon City Councilor (2009–15), she led the city's transformation into a leading entrepreneurial hub—earning Lisbon the title of 2015 "European Entrepreneurial City of the Year"—and launched the Lisbon Participatory Budget, giving citizens direct power over municipal investments. In 2023, the Apolitical Foundation named her a "Democratic Innovator of the 21st Century." She teaches and advises national and international organizations on arts, democracy, and climate, driven by a purpose of designing the future by bringing people together through participatory processes.