future problem solving categories 2023

What's up at VAFPs in the Month ahead?

Future Problem Solving of Virginia

FPS CATEGORY LIST

Arts & Aesthetics

Basic Needs

Business & Commerce

Communication

Environment

Ethics & Religion

Government & Politics

Law & Justice

Miscellaneous

Physical Health

Psychological Health

Social Relationships

Transportation

Future Problem Solving is typically offered as an extracurricular activity or elective course, and it is open to students of all ages and grade levels.

The program is structured around a series of competitions that challenge students to apply their creativity and problem-solving skills to real-world issues and scenarios.

Global Issues Problem Solving students are presented with a complex scenario or problem. They are asked to identify the underlying issues, generate solutions, evaluate the pros and cons of each solution, and select the best course of action.

Students work in teams (or individually) to develop their solutions and are judged on the creativity, originality, and feasibility of their ideas.

In addition to honing their problem-solving skills, Future Problem Solving  emphasizes leadership development. FPS equips students with the skills necessary to lead teams and organizations towards solutions for the problems they will face in the future.

Become an FPS Coach and help guide and support your students as they develop their problem-solving skills, teaching strategies for analysing complex issues, and helping develop leadership skills, critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills .

FPS hosts Coach Catch-ups in terms 1 and 2, providing an opportunity for coaches to share information, ideas, and best practices and provide a forum for coaches to discuss common challenges and in coaching students.

Students involved in GIPS learn & practice powerful problem-solving skills that engage their critical and creative thinking.

A stand out project-based program for schools.  Students select a real world problem, identify a solution, and then actively implement their action plan to address the problem.

A Scenario Writing competition in which students develop and submit short stories. Students compete individually, developing short stories related to one of five FPSP topics for the year.

An oral storytelling activity for individual students offering the opportunity to develop creative and entertaining, short, futuristic stories related to one of five FPSP topics.

A non-competitive problem-solving program designed for implementation in the regular classroom Foundational Skills (Prep-2); Developing Skills (Grades 3-4)

Dylan Sherman, FPS Australia Alumni, now Coach, Evaluator, Future Scene Writer, Committee Member, Lecturer and PhD Candidate at University of Oxford

Meganne Wyatt, FPS Australia Alumni, Evaluator

Future Problem Solving Australia acknowledges the traditional owners of this land. We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.

2022-2023 Topics

August 22, 2021

Topics and Suggested Readings for the 2022-2023 Competition Season are now available!

any questions? Ask!

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Future Problem Solving

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FUTURE PROBLEM SOLVING

Competition for 21st Century Learning Skills

Future Problem Solving Program International is celebrating 50 Years!

The year long celebration will culminate with the Future Problem Solving International Conference June 5-9, 2024 at the University of Indiana Bloomington.

Kentucky teams who place at our State Finals in March may earn an invitation to the International Competition to represent Kentucky on the world stage.

Kentucky has been a part of Future Problem Solving since 1988 with multiple top 10 finishes at the International Competition.

Kentucky: One of the International Leaders in FPS

Future Problem Solving (FPS) helps students obtain lifelong goals by teaching problem solving skills today. The diverse components of this internationally recognized, award-winning program prepare students for emerging new realities.

The Institute for Competition Sciences has recognized KAAC as the number one FPS affiliate in the world.

KAAC offers FPS through Governor's Cup Team FPS and FPS Component Events .

What is FPS?

Through academic competition, students apply critical thinking, advanced problem solving, and decision making skills to hypothetical future scenarios using the following FPS Six-Step Process:

• Step 1: Identify potential challenges or concerns from the Future Scene.
• Step 2: Identify a singular underlying problem.
• Step 3: Identify potential solutions to the underlying problem.
• Step 4: Develop criteria to judge potential solutions and their positive impact.
• Step 5: Evaluate and rank the potential solutions using criteria to rank solutions in order of importance.
• Step 6: Develop a complete action plan based on the highest-ranking solution.

Component Events

• Community Problem Solving (CmPS) - An individual or team of students work to identify a problem that exists in their school, community, state, or nation. Participants utilize the Six-Step Process to examine this area of concern, then develop and implement real-world projects to address these problems.
• Scenario Writing - Individual students write 1500-word stories related to one of the five yearly FPS topics. Each fictional story must be set at least 20 years in the future and outline logical events taking place in the world.
• Scenario Performance - Individual students develop and deliver oral stories related to one of the five yearly FPS topics. Each oral story is set 20 years in the future and should be told in a natural and spontaneous nature that is creative and entertaining to an audience.
• Junior Division FPS - A team of four students in grades 4-6 may participate in the Junior Division of FPS.
• Individual FPS - Individual students work through the FPS Six-Step Process and have two hours to complete a booklet. Individuals generate eight challenges in Step 1 and eight potential solutions in Step 3. The other steps are the same as the team competition.
• FPS Alternates -The FPS Alternates competition is for students who are part of a team that qualified for the State Finals, but are not actually competing in Governor’s Cup team FPS. The FPS Team Alternates Competition is held at the Governor’s Cup State Finals. It is NOT part of Governor’s Cup. Each FPS Alternates Team will consist of not more than four students from different schools who work through the FPS process. Each team generates 8 challenges in Step 1, and 8 solution ideas in Step 3. Step 2, Step 4, Step 5 and Step 6 are exactly the same as the team competition. Participants have 90 minutes to complete a booklet.

Don’t let your FPS questions go unanswered. We’re here to help. Give us a call at (502) 223-0088 or email us at Chris Hill .

BRAND NEW Future Problem Solving Resource Library. We’re just getting started and are still uploading content. Keep an eye out for additional articles and free tools in the coming months.

Global Issues

Community projects, creative writing, storytelling.

• Problem-Solving Method
• Real World Issues
• Future Scenarios
• Authentic Assessments
• 5Cs of Learning
• Youth Protection
• DEIB Commitment

International Conference

• Find FPS Near Me
• Partner With Us

Hi. How can we help?

Help topics.

Get Started

New? Find everything you need to know to get started and get to work with Future Problem Solving competitions.

Problem Solving Tools

Find out more about our proven 6-step method and how to apply it to develop relevant action plans.

Learn more about our flagship program competition for both teams and individuals and get inspired by our students’ work.

Learn more about how to apply our Future Problem Solving model to a real world project in your local community.

Learn more about our futuristic writing competition and get inspired by our student’s work (aka Scenario Writing).

Learn more about our futuristic storytelling competition and get inspired by our student’s work (aka Scenario Performance).

Explore ideas and tips for integrating our program materials as non-competitive activities in your classroom curriculum.

Learn more about our virtual, asynchronous competitions like the World Solutions Challenge.

Best Practices

Discover best practices shared by others doing what you do that you can adapt and apply today.

From coaches to students to evaluators, learn how FPSOnline works from top to bottom and find answers to frequently asked questions.

Get Involved

Schools, partners, donors, volunteers, evaluators, alumni…find out how you can make a direct impact on students' lives.

Explore all the ways you can support your students’ success and get inspiration from other parents’ perspectives.

Questions? Find the answers here. Each year champion problem solvers and supporters come together from around the world (IC).

Everything Else

Not sure where to look? Check out the answers to other common Future Problem Solving questions here.

Popular Articles

• [IC 2024] What is the schedule for this year’s event?
• Who are the winners of the IC 2024 competition?
• How does the Action Plan Presentation portion of the IC competition work?
• [IC 2024] What sessions/workshops are available with this year’s event?
• Free Tool: Categories List for Generating and Focusing Ideas

April Michele

• FPS Academy Virtual Lessons
• PP2 Urbanization

Urbanization

Welcome! In this course, you’ll explore the topic of Urbanization, which is Practice Problem 2 in the 2023-24 competition season. By the end, you’ll be able to use these skills to tackle any problem that comes your way!

Please Note: If you have purchased this course, you need to log into your account using the My Account link in order to access the course.

This course will begin with an overview of the problem-solving process and some resources to get you started on your research on the topic of Urbanization. The following lessons will break down each step of the process, teaching you to:

• Identify Challenges
• Write an Underlying Problem
• Develop Solutions
• Establish Criteria
• Fill out the Evaluation Matrix
• Develop an Action Plan.

You’ll use a practice Future Scene throughout the course, check out scoring guidelines, and build knowledge of the topic and the problem-solving process.

Allison Williams

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Florida Future Problem Solving

“Teaching Students How to Think, Not What to Think.”

Get Started Today!

Global Issues Problem Solving

Global Issues Problem Solving (Team) $90.00 per team In Global Issues Problem Solving (GIPS) students in grades 4-12 compete in teams of four to research …

Community Problem Solving

Community Problem Solving (Team or Individual) $60.00 per team or $50 per individual In Community Problem Solving (CmPS), teams in grades 4-12 use the FPS …

Scenario Writing & Scenario Performance

Scenario Writing (Individual) $40.00 per entry Scenario Writing gives students in grades 4-12 who are interested in creative writing the opportunity to research any of …

The Impact of FPS

Today’s students are the first generation of the 21st century. Teachers, coaches, and parents face the task of preparing students for emerging new realities. Participation in Future Problem Solving:

• Develops critical and creative thinking skills.
• Increases awareness of the future.
• Enhances communication & collaboration.
• Utilizes an effective creative problem solving model.
• Encourages youth to actively shape their future.

Problem 

“opening doors to the future”.

2024 I C International Conference & State Bo wl Spotlight coming soon. Here's what happened in 2023

Ranks of royalty   click on 2024 state bowl to see nc fps state champions 2024 state bowl qualifying problem    .

Click her to read winning 2023 SCENARIOS

Click her to see nc fps's  2023 cmps projects.

2023 International Conference: Currency

NC FPS students take the stage at 2023 International Conference...

1st place GIPS Individual Junior Division Arora

Coach Harrison

6th place GIPS Team Junior Division  Baer, E Huffstetler, L Huffstetler, Lam

5th place GIPS Individual Middle Division  Venkatesh

Coach Venkatesh

Finalist GIPS Team Middle Division

Nanduri, Patil, Sattenapalli, Unnikrishnan

Coaches Nanduri & Shyamala

Finalist FIPS Individual Senior Division Mehta

Coach Mehta

Finalist GIPS Team Senior Division  Coleman, Cone, Hart, Lam

Finalist  GIPS Team Senior Division E  Nethala, E Nethala, Sureshkannan, Varikuti

Coaches Vanipalli & Venkatesh

4th Place Presentation of Action Plan Senior Division  Coleman, Cone, Hart, Lam

MAGIC = Multi-Affiliate Global Issues Competition

1st place MAGIC Ju nior  Division Jangala

Coach Jangala

2nd place MAGIC* Junior  Division Sharma

1st place MAGIC* Middle  Division Sakhalkar

Coach Sureshkannan & Vanapalli

4th place MAGIC Middle Division Samatam

1st place MAGIC* Senior Division Vanapalli

Coach Nanduri & Shyamala

​ Finalist CmPS Team Junior  Division Positive Pollinators

5th place Junior Division Scenario Zhang

Coaches Sureshkannan & Vana palli

 23-24 TOPICS RESEARCH PP1  Tourism PP2  Urbanization QP   Antarctica SB   Autonomous  Transportation IC Air Quality

TO FIND THE BEST SOLUTIONS, YOU MUST ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS.

Plan ahead  2024 NC FPS State Bowl YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly Friday, March 15 through Sunday, March 1 7   Black  Mountain , North Carolina TOPIC: Autonomous Transportation

Registration for new 24-25 teams & individuals in all components available in september. click here to learn more..

Iowa Future Problem Solving

Important Dates

FPS dates and timelines for Iowa FPS this year.

More From Forbes

A future of reusable identity is on the way.

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Mike Tuchen, CEO, Onfido .

When the world moved to digital-first transactions in 2020, online digital identity verification became vital. It’s how businesses can remotely yet securely verify identities and protect themselves and their customers from fraud while maintaining good online experiences.

Over the course of a decade, we've become used to taking a picture of our IDs and a selfie to prove who we are and access services online. As this technology has become commonplace, new challenges have arisen around the cost, liability and friction of repeating identity verification for every transaction. And the technology has again evolved into yet a new solution: shareable, reusable identity.

We've seen this come into play for international travelers—highlighting travel as a natural use case where one verification gives the user a digital asset to use again and again.

But the future of reusable identity is far-reaching beyond travel, with the potential to transform our day-to-day interactions across many industries and services. Liminal estimates the global TAM for reusable identity will reach $266.5 billion by 2027 from $32.8 billion in 2022. The need and the market are clear: For example, in Sweden, more than 99.2% of the population uses the BankID digital verification service—reaching 8.4 million users in 2022 who use it to open bank accounts and other online services from a network of more than 6,000 organizations. In Estonia, all citizens have a state-issued digital identity; for more than 20 years, it has been used in all corners of everyday life.

In the U.S., the patchwork of activity by different states has been slower to reach a unified digital identity framework or mobile wallet. This is where private companies like Apple and CLEAR have stepped in and where we’ll see continued growth.

Digital identity has seen advanced leaps in just the past few years, and the developments in biometrics, identity proofing and advanced AI fraud detection have paved the way for reusable identity to reach mass adoption.

Solving The Problem Of Privacy

From travel to opening bank accounts to hotel and car rentals, we hand over our identity details to access many things. But people are rightfully having more concerns about how their data is being stored and used: Identity fraud has gone up as much as 37% from 2022 to 2023.

A trusted, reusable, sharable identity, on the other hand, is created and stored on a user’s own device. “Verify once, share anywhere:” That’s the promise of a future with reusable identities that can be shared across a vast global network of businesses, where a user can select where, how and what parts of their identity to share and revoke access at any time.

The Business Benefits Of Reusable Identity

Alongside the consumer benefits, reusable identity is a cheaper way to verify users, with no need to store their data, a guarantee to be verified, and immediate response times with no waiting. We know that a smooth user experience is necessary for customer acquisition: 45% of customers will abandon the signup process if the user experience is poor.

Plus, the complicated patchwork of compliance regulations from states to countries can risk fines and damages for companies storing users’ private data. Giving users control of their digital identities frees businesses from the liability of storing private data and eliminates the data honeypot that’s such an attractive target for fraudsters.

A Vision For The Future

The future of reusable identity includes interoperability across platforms and use cases while straddling the digital and physical worlds. Mass adoption means public-private partnerships, which are currently growing.

Soon, we’ll use our pre-verified reusable identity on our devices with the same frequency that we pull out a driver’s license or national ID, presenting it both digitally and physically. And eventually, we’ll leave the physical IDs at home—or never acquire one in the first place. The difference is that when it’s user-controlled and digital, it’s much more secure, private and convenient.

After verifying and storing it, your digital identity can open a bank account and then apply for a mortgage. You can get your boarding pass for this afternoon’s flight while you’re getting ready at home, then breeze through to your gate. Instead of lining up for your rental car, you can share your reusable identity with one tap and then again to check into your hotel room. From buying age-restricted goods to setting up a new utilities account, a growing network of people will have a reusable identity stored on their devices, and businesses will want to join the network of places where it can be shared and used.

How To Get Started With Reusable Identity

The 2023 Gartner Market Guide for Identity Verification advises businesses to “prepare for a future built on portable digital identity.” Here are some points to think about for keeping your business competitive.

Look for fast, easy integration: Businesses need to speed up their sprint cycles. Look for reliable, cost-efficient IDV and sharing capabilities that are interoperable with existing legacy systems and the newest technologies.

Reduce costs and simplify operations: Lighten operational overhead with easy-to-share identity proofing. Organizations can be 5x more efficient in their IDV processing, shortening wait times, improving security, reducing administrative costs and increasing the quality of IDV.

Drive network growth and scale quickly: Reusable IDs are not static; they can be used cross-vertically and become multidimensional with every use. The unique qualities allow for a strong interconnected network, unifying operations between businesses and their partners.

Customers and businesses expect secure digital transactions and data maintenance—providing a solution that not only offers security but ease of access is a great start.

Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?

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Global Issues

• Community Projects
• Creative Writing
• Storytelling
• Problem-Solving Method
• Real World Issues
• Future Scenarios
• Authentic Assessments
• 5Cs of Learning
• Youth Protection
• DEIB Commitment
• International Conference
• Find FPS Near Me
• Partner With Us

At a Glance

Program overview.

Our Global Issues program uses imagined “what if” future scenarios to describe real world problem situations needing to be solved.

3 Competition Divisions

Junior – Grades 4 to 6 Middle – Grades 7 to 9 Senior – Grades 10 to 12

Team and Individual Options

Students may work on challenges in teams of up to four students or on an individual basis.

5 Annual Topics

Each school year, students get 3-5 opportunities, based on their progress in local and regional competitions, to solve important global challenges.

Student Work Requirements

After researching and analyzing a topic, students get two hours during competitions to complete our 6-step problem-solving process for a given future situation.

Non-Competitive Activities

Teachers often integrate Global Issues topics, future scenes, and problem-solving activities into their classroom curriculum.

How It Works

Students become mini-experts and predict possibilities for the future.

Students learn to thoroughly research and analyze real world issues and use our proven 6-step problem-solving method to develop relevant action plans. They apply this knowledge plus divergent and convergent thinking skills to imagined future scenarios in our competitions.

Competition Season

Each school year, two practice problems and one qualifying problem are available for all to complete. Those who qualify for their regional affiliate finals complete a fourth problem challenge for a chance to attend our annual International Conference in June. We announce all four problem topics for the next season on March 1.

Authentic Assessment

Registered students receive feedback from trained evaluators on their submissions for each topic. Our rubric-based evaluations provide learner-focused feedback on each problem-solving step to strengthen student skills and recognize success.

World Finals Qualification

We invite regional affiliate champions to attend our International Conference and compete alongside their peers. We announce a fifth problem topic on March 1 each year for use at our world finals event in June.

Season 2024-2025 Topics

Our real world topics are future-focused.

Food Security

How might food security issues of availability, access, and affordability essential for living a healthy life impact society in the future?

Rising Sea Levels

How might we address the impact of rising sea levels on coastlines, industries, and people in the future?

Agricultural Industry

How might the agricultural industry adapt to the needs of feeding a growing world population in the future?

Nanotechnology

How might the use of nanotechnology in medicine, healthcare, and other industries affect humanity in the future?

6-Step Problem-Solving Method

Our evaluations provide feedback for each problem solving step.

Students use the 5Cs of 21st Century Learning throughout the Future Problem Solving process. With each step, they predict possibilities for a topic-related situation 20 to 40 years in the future. Certified evaluators analyze the students’ work from their step one challenges to their step six action plan, providing feedback through authentic assessment .

Identify Challenges

The first step builds a foundational understanding of the problem. Students start by generating important challenges or issues related to the situation across multiple categories . Teams present more ideas than individuals.

Select an Underlying Problem

After analyzing all the possible challenges, students narrow their focus to a single issue area of major importance relative to other situation challenges. They complete the step by articulating the underlying problem they plan to solve.

Produce Solution Ideas

With their underlying problem selected, students shift to generating solutions to address this one problem. Quality, quantity, and the use of a variety of categories are encouraged in this step. Teams present more ideas than individuals.

Select Criteria

At the halfway point, students move to planning for action. In step four, they develop five criteria relevant to their underlying problem, each focused on a single standard, to measure the merit of their solution ideas.

Apply Criteria to Top Solutions

Students complete an evaluation grid by comparing their most promising solutions to their selected criteria. By ranking the solutions against each criterion separately, they determine their best solution. Teams rank more solutions in the grid than individuals.

Develop an Action Plan

The problem-solving process does not end with identifying a solution. Instead, in the final step, students develop a plan of action to both explain their process and implement the best solution to address their underlying problem in the future. The world finals, and most regional affiliate finals, also require a creative presentation or skit of the action plan.

Student Showcase

Lifetime skills on display.

Neurotechnology

2021 Individual Champion Junior Division Anya (North Carolina)

Antibiotic Resistance

2022 Team Champion Middle Division Caroline, Sijia, Siqi, and Xin (Singapore)

Terraforming

2020 Individual Champion Senior Division Kate (California)

Qualify for International Conference

Questions find the answers here..

Find everything else you need to know about Global Issues in our Resources Library . In addition, check out the answers to other common Future Problem Solving questions.

Yes, Global Issues works well beyond the classroom in all the spaces and places young people learn. Some groups participate in community-based Future Problem Solving clubs not affiliated with any school. Other students choose to take part asynchronously, fully online. Great out-of-school time options for doing Future Problem Solving include after-school enrichment settings, youth development programs, and independent learning channels.

Students participate through schools, clubs, or independently through a Future Problem Solving regional affiliate . Every Global Issues team or individual works alongside an adult who serves as their coach or adult liaison. While coaches are often educators who may utilize their classroom time for Future Problem Solving, anyone may serve as a coach. Parents, administrators, retired teachers, alumni, and other professionals interested in helping students become better prepared for the future are all welcome. Often, experienced Future Problem Solving students (with an adult sponsor) also serve as coaches for younger students.

All coaches gain access to program materials designed to help them guide their students through the problem-solving process as well as prepare for each topic challenge. Registration fees cover everything students need for the general competitions including future scenes, some suggested readings on the topics, competition booklets, and evaluation and feedback on booklet submissions.

Topic learning units are also available for purchase. Each unit contains background research, more suggested readings, discussion questions, learning prompts, assessment resources, and activity units that pair topic information with 6-step problem-solving process training. Additional fees may be required for regional affiliate and world finals. For more information on local fees and schedules, contact your Future Problem Solving regional affiliate .

Future Problem Solving Students – A Five Year Study

A comparison of reading and mathematics performance between students participating in a future problem solving program and nonparticipants.

Data from the The Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) was collected by Grandview Middle School and provided to Scholastic Testing Service, Inc. for statistical analysis.

Findings reported by Scholastic Testing Service, Inc. Performance data on the MCA was collected from 2010-2014 for students in grade 6 at Grandview Middle School in Mound, MN (Westonka Public School District). Students were identified as either FPS: students participating in a Future Problem Solving program, or Non-FPS: students not participating in the program. Summary statistics using Reading and Mathematics Scaled Scores were developed for each group of students by year and across years. To determine if the mean scores across the years were significantly different, t-tests were used. A Cohen’s d test was then performed to measure the effect of the size of the found differences.

In all cases, students participating in the Future Problem Solving Program performed significantly higher on the MCA in both areas of Mathematics and Reading.

Effects of Group Training in Problem-Solving Style on Future Problem-Solving Performance

The journal of creative behavior (jcb) of the creative education foundation.

Seventy-five participants from one suburban high school formed 21 teams with 3–4 members each for Future Problem Solving (FPS). Students were selected to participate in either the regular FPS or an enhanced FPS, where multiple group training activities grounded in problem-solving style were incorporated into a 9-week treatment period.

An ANCOVA procedure was used to examine the difference in team responses to a creative problem-solving scenario for members of each group, after accounting for initial differences in creative problem-solving performance, years of experience in FPS, and creative thinking related to fluency, flexibility, and originality. The ANCOVA resulted in a significant difference in problem-solving performance in favor of students in the treatment group (F(1, 57) = 8.21, p = .006, partial eta squared = .126, medium), while there were no significant differences in years of experience or creativity scores. This result led researchers to conclude that students in both groups had equivalent creative ability and that participation in the group activities emphasizing problem-solving style significantly contributed to creative performance.

In the comparison group, a total of 47% had scores that qualified for entry to the state competition. In contrast, 89% of the students in the treatment group had scores that qualified them for the state bowl. None of the teams from the comparison group qualified for the international competition, while two teams from the treatment group were selected, with one earning sixth place.

The results of this study suggest that problem-solving performance by team members can be improved through direct instruction in problem-solving style, particularly when there is a focus on group dynamics.

The Journal of Creative Behavior, Vol. 0, Iss. 0, pp. 1–12 © 2017 by the Creative Education Foundation, Inc. DOI: 10.1002/jocb.176

Future Problem Solving Program International—Second Generation Study

“how important was future problem solving in the development of your following skill sets”.

In 2011, a team of researchers from the University of Virginia submitted a report titled “Future Problem Solving Program International—Second Generation Study.” (Callahan, Alimin, & Uguz, 2012). The study, based on a survey, collected data from over 150 Future Problem Solving alumni to understand the impact of their participation in Future Problem Solving as students or volunteers.

Percentage of Alumni Rating Important and Extremely Important in Developing Skill Sets

• 96% Look at the “Big Picture”
• 93% Critical Thinking
• 93% Teamwork and Collaboration
• 93% Identify and Solve Problems
• 93% Time Management
• 90% Researching
• 90% Evaluation and Decision Making
• 86% Creativity and Innovation
• 86% Written Communication

The report captured alumni’s positive experiences as students in Future Problem Solving and documented that the alumni continued to utilize the FPS-structured approach to solving problems in their adult lives.

Executive Director

A seasoned educator, April Michele has served as the Executive Director since 2018 and been with Future Problem Solving more than a decade. Her background in advanced curriculum strategies and highly engaging learning techniques translates well in the development of materials, publications, training, and marketing for the organization and its global network. April’s expertise includes pedagogy and strategies for critical and creative thinking and providing quality educational services for students and adults worldwide.

Prior to joining Future Problem Solving, April taught elementary and middle grades, spending most of her classroom career in gifted education. She earned the National Board certification (NBPTS) as a Middle Childhood/Generalist and later served as a National Board assessor for the certification of others. In addition, April facilitated the Theory and Development of Creativity course for the state of Florida’s certification of teachers. She has also collaborated on a variety of special projects through the Department of Education. Beyond her U.S. education credentials, she has been trained for the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP) in Humanities.

A graduate of the University of Central Florida with a bachelor’s in Elementary Education and the University of South Florida with a master’s in Gifted Education, April’s passion is providing a challenging curriculum for 21st century students so they are equipped with the problem-solving and ethical leadership skills they need to thrive in the future. As a board member in her local Rotary Club, she facilitates problem solving in leadership at the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA). She is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute and earned her certificate in Nonprofit Management from the Edyth Bush Institute at Rollins College.