Senior Futurist, Institute for Alternative Futures

Marsha Rhea has extensive experience working with boards and senior leadership teams to define the vision and strategies needed to transform their organizations.

Rhea has also worked extensively with ASME on a series of environmental scans and presentations. Her other nonprofit and government clients have included the National Association of Elementary School Principals, Southern Association of Orthodontists, American Occupational Therapy Association, U.S. Forest Service Eastern Region, Academy of Educational Development, American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, Safe Kids Worldwide, International Foundation for Employee Benefit Plans, American Society of Association Executives, Centers for Disease Control, and the National Heart Lung Blood Institute.

Rhea has worked in strategy and technical projects for corporate clients through IAF’s for-profit subsidiary, Alternative Futures Associates. She was an integral part of IAF’s research for the American Society of Association Executives Foundation on the future of associations and collaborated in writing Exploring the Future: Seven Strategic Conversations That Could Transform Your Association. She is the author of the book, Anticipate the World You Want: Learning for Alternative Futures.

Prior to joining IAF in 2001, Rhea held executive leadership positions for the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), National Recycling Coalition, and the American Subcontractors Association. She began her association career working for two state school boards associations and serving as editor of a national newspaper for the Arthritis Foundation. Rhea earned a masters degree in public administration with a concentration in nonprofit management from George Mason University and is a summa cum laude graduate of Georgetown College in Kentucky. Exemplifying her commitment to lifelong learning, she completed the six-year Institute of Organization Management program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and earned the certified association executive designation from ASAE.