Mike Youngblood

Founder, The Youngblood Group

San Francisco

Mike Youngblood is a cultural anthropologist working at the nexus of social science and human-centered design. In his work, he has collaborated with a striking range of people—including North African camel herders, Japanese motorcycle enthusiasts, Argentinian clinical trial patients, and American teenagers—all to inspire fresh ideas and imagine better solutions.

Mike is the chief conspirator behind The Youngblood Group, an innovation consultancy focused on positive social change, and was previously an Associate Partner at the acclaimed but erstwhile design and innovation firm gravitytank. Mike earned his Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and has taught at the School for International Training, the Masters in Social Design program at the Maryland Institute College of Art, and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University. His recent award-winning book, Cultivating Community, explores myth and the politics of meaning in a populist political movement in India.