Former Springfield and United Way leader takes up study of future

Greg Burris – past Springfield city manager and past president and CEO of the United Way Ozarks Region – is looking to the future, academically.

Burris announced in an April 24 social media post that he was obtaining a graduate certificate in foresight – a field sometimes referred to as futurism or future studies – through a program at the University of Houston.

Burris announced in the post that he would be leaving his part-time position as executive director of the United Way’s Give 5 Program, the volunteerism program for retirees that he founded in 2017.

His attention will turn to the Washington, D.C.-based Foundation for Social Connection, where he has a nine-month fellowship to work on his project to imagine the future of volunteerism and civic service over the next 10-15 years. He is also collaborating with two other large national nonprofits: the AARP and the Points of Light Foundation.

Burris said he promised his academic adviser he would write a book about his findings upon completion of his studies.

Burris said the name change of the field from futurism to foresight occurred because some people found the former appellation “too crystal-ballish.”

It’s not, he said.

“It’s very research-intensive,” he said. “I’ve been reading books, doing research and interviewing topic experts from around the country.”

Burris plans to commit to paper his ideas about possible scenarios for the future of service.

“It’s not that I’m going to tell you what will happen, or that I can tell you the lottery numbers for tomorrow – that’s what everyone thinks,” he said. “What I can do is research all elements of this topic and consider questions like how will political polarization impact the future of volunteerism and civic service, or how will economic conditions impact it?”

If the economy goes south, people will likely have less free time, perhaps working more to pay their bills.

“They obviously will have less time to volunteer,” he said.

On the other side of the equation, with an economic downturn, more people will need the kinds of assistance a volunteer force provides.

Burris said a foresight professional puts together scenarios and tries to determine which are the most likely to occur, then works backwards to determine what stakeholders can do to prepare.

“We tend to think our default mode is to think that the future is going to happen to us, so we’re going to have to react to whatever unfolds,” he said. “With strategic foresight, you see that you have a chance to help shape the future.”