J. Walker Smith, is Executive Vice Chairman of The Futures Company.

Walker is an authority and frequently quoted commentator on consumer trends.  He has been described by Fortune magazine as “one of America’s leading analysts on consumer trends.”  He is a dynamic, much sought-after speaker on marketing strategy.

Walker is co-author of four books, including Rocking the Ages: The Yankelovich Report on Generational Marketing (1997), a highly regarded book about generational marketing strategies, and Generation Ageless: How Baby Boomers  are Changing the Way We Live Today…And They’re Just Getting Started (2008).  He is also co-author of Coming to Concurrence: Addressable Attitudes and the New Model for Marketing Productivity (2005 and Life Is Not Work, Work Is Not Life (2001), a collection of short essays on work/life balance that was picked by the Wall Street Journal as one of the ten best work/life books of 2001.  Walker writes regular columns for Marketing Management and Media magazines.  And for 8 years he did a weekly on-air commentary for Smart City, a public radio show about cities and community life.

Most recently, Walker co-authored A Darwinian Gale: The Recovery Consumer Marketplace in the Era of Consequences, an in-depth, groundbreaking white paper on the post-recession economy.

Walker holds a doctorate in Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Follow Walker on Twitter at twitter.com/jwalkersmith.