Rana Florida

As CEO of the Creative Class Group, Rana Florida manages new business development, marketing, consulting, research and global operations serving such diverse clients as BMW, Converse, IBM, Cirque du Soleil, Audi, Zappos, and Starwood Hotels – to name just a few.

She brings to this leadership role more than two decades of experience in corporate strategy, communications, and marketing, having directed global strategic communications for HMSHost, the world’s largest airport developer, as well as having executed marketing initiatives for Disney Live and Starbucks and events experience working with The Atlantic, CityLab, The Aspen Institute and The Knight Foundation.

Well known as a writer on business and leadership – for Fast Company, Inc.com and the Huffington Post – Florida has also served as a guest business analyst on "The Today Show" and MSNBC’s "The Cycle," has been a Fox News contributor for several years, and has been featured in The New York Times, Vogue Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Market Watch, CNN and The Globe and Mail. Her one-on-one high profile interviews have covered notables – from President Bill Clinton and First Lady Michelle Obama to Andre Agassi, Nelly Furtado, Tory Burch, and many more.

She is also heavily involved in philanthropic including The United Nations Global Network on Digital Technologies and Sustainable Urbanization for UN Habitat, The Olympics Committee, Canadian Freestyle Ski Association, The National Ballet of Canada, St. Mike’s Hospital Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit, Luminato Festival, Travel & Leisure Rebel Awards, Le Miami, Objekt USA-Canada, AMBI 2.0 Gala, The Design–Exchange – DX Intersection, Isabella Blow Foundation, Girls E Mentorship, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Airports Council International, Council for International Visitors, The Founders Junior Council of the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Marketing Magazine Awards in Design.

Florida holds a Bachelor of Arts in communications and a MBA in marketing and management. Her book, "Upgrade—Taking Your Work and Life From Ordinary to Extraordinary" was a ‘Business Best Seller,’ by Tattered Cover, the largest independent bookstore retailer in the U.S. and The Globe and Mail, Editor’s Pick.