Biographies

Radia Funna is an internationally recognized theorist whose xHuman theory explores the impact of frontier technology on institutional behavioral norms to help inform a framework of understanding that can guide technology companies, their regulators and the general public. Founder and principal at the consulting firm Build n Blaze; over the last decade, she has led client projects to develop initiatives for scaled action and transformation (including the launch of the first innovation unit at the United Nations’ Secretariat). After graduating university early, Radia, in her twenties, became the first regulatory professional to systematize the ~$10B New Jersey (USA) State Medicaid contract at a commercial enterprise (Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey) in 2000. Her corporate career then became an interplay between compliance and innovation that culminated in the development of her first independent theory, happening soon after she assumed leadership of Heidrick & Struggles’ global partnership with the World Economic Forum in 2009. Radia is an informal advisor to the UN and an advocate of the Sustainable Development Goals. She regularly speaks on the role of technology in equitable futures and creates mentorship and STEM programs for underrepresented women, girls and youth.​