Gigi Louisa Johnson, EdD, MBA
Rethink Next and Maremel Studios
Futurist · Educator · Creative Technologist · Systems Thinker
Gigi Johnson designs and leads experiences that blend foresight, storytelling, and hands-on AI experimentation.
Think futures literacy with humor, tools you can actually use, and just enough play to unlock real insight.
She helps people live with AI—and think beyond it.
More specifically, her work focuses on how AI is quietly reshaping what we find, what we choose, and what we believe,and how to stay in control of that process.
What People Walk Away With
Her events and programs help participants:
- Decode hype, signals, and algorithmic influence
- Reframe careers, creative work, and decisions in nonlinear ways
- Use AI as a clarity and imagination tool—not a replacement brain
- Leave with artifacts: maps, prompts, frameworks, and next steps
A Career Bridging Finance, Media, and Futures
Through Rethink Next, Gigi designs programs for creatives, educators, civic leaders, and organizations navigating systemic change.
Her work spans multiple waves of disruption across industries:
SVP / Managing Director, Bank of America
Led entertainment, media, and telecom M&A financing; evaluated early mobile, radio, cable, and independent film sectors during periods of rapid change
SVP, Studio 4 Networks
Worked on early video-on-demand channel strategies
UCLA (20+ years)
Founded and led the Center for Music Innovation; taught media transformation, marketing, and digital strategy across the Herb Alpert School of Music and UCLA Anderson School of Management; developed global programs from Spain to Abu Dhabi
She also co-created Amplify Music, a 25-hour global summit supporting local music ecosystems during the pandemic, because futures work gets real when systems break.
Her insights have been featured in outlets including BBC, NPR (Marketplace & Morning Edition), The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Variety, Billboard, Reuters, and Le Monde.
Creative & Media Work
Gigi brings a maker’s mindset to foresight:
- Host/producer of Creative Innovators, Innovating Music, and Amplify Music Conversations podcasts and YouTube channels
- Designer of narrative futures games, speculative storytelling, and immersive workshops
- Creator of original media, learning tools, and collaborative formats that travel across sectors
Education
- EdD, Educational Leadership for Change, Organizations and Technology Change focus, Fielding Graduate University
- MBA, Finance & Accounting, UCLA Anderson
- BA, Cinema-Television Production, University of Southern California
Speaking & Workshops (Selected)
SXSW · Web Summit · Collision · Academy of Management · EPIC International Summit · Augmented World Expo · Music Biz · NARM · UCLA conferences · U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development · universities, cities, and cultural organizations worldwide