Kristel Van der Elst is the CEO of The Global Foresight Group, and the Director General at Policy Horizons Canada, Government of Canada. She has about 20 years of experience in forward-looking strategy and policy advisory roles. She is also a member of the OECD Governmental Foresight Community, Fellow at the Center for Strategic Foresight of the US Government Accountability Office, and Visiting Professor at the College of Europe, the former Head of Strategic Foresight at the World Economic Forum.

Kristel holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management, a Masters in Development Cooperation from the University of Ghent, and a Masters in Commercial Engineering from the Free University of Brussels. She is a Fulbright Scholar, a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar, a Global Leadership Fellow and a Certified Professional Facilitator.