WHO WE ARE

Anthony Mills is the Founder & CEO of Legacy Innovation Group.

Anthony is a globally sought–after thought leader on emerging markets, proactive growth strategies, corporate innovation, workplace experience, open innovation, the future of work, entrepreneurship, product design, and design thinking.   His work has had a deeply profound and lasting impact on organizations all over the world.

Anthony has a passion for two things — 1) helping organizations reinvent themselves into engaging, human workplaces that can't help but unleash breakthrough innovation, and 2) connecting organizations with the ongoing stream of new opportunities they need to lead their markets.

Anthony is himself an award–winning and internationally–recognized innovator, having brought numerous innovations to the businesses he has served.   He is a deeply associative thinker with the classic ‘Innovator's DNA’ profile – a true rainmaker.   His lifelong disdain for the status quo and his love for pursuing ‘what's next’ have garnered him a well–earned reputation as an agent of change.

Moreover, having traveled the world and experienced numerous cultures up close, Anthony understands people and the markets they make up.   Consequently he knows how to combine insight and empathy with imagination and creativity to conceive real solutions to customer's ‘deep down’ needs and desires.   And he knows how to connect business insights in ways that let organizations deliver the winning experiences their markets demand.

Anthony's abilities in strategic innovation build on over 30 years of leadership in business, where he has held strategic management positions in such disciplines as strategy, design, marketing, product management, engineering, manufacturing, and quality.   This has given him a broad and holistic perspective on innovation that is quite rare among business leaders.   He remains deeply engaged in each of these disciplines, and knows how to bridge them to deliver innovations that have a lasting impact on organizations, their markets, and the world.

Anthony holds graduate degrees in both Engineering and Management, and received training in executive leadership at Ashridge Business School (London) and in international business at the Indian School of Business (Hyderabad).   Despite his technical background however, Anthony is truly a creative at heart and has an immense appreciation for great design — matched only by his passion for great branding.

Anthony has lived and worked in a number of urban centers – New York City, Dubai, Detroit, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, and Raleigh/Durham – while his business travels have taken him all over the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Anthony has been a keynote speaker at numerous strategy, innovation, insights, and HR conferences around the world, and is available to speak at future events as well.

Anthony is the author, co-author, or executive editor of the following works:

60 Leaders on Innovation: 22 Challenging Innovation Questions Answered by 60 World-Class Thought Leaders (Innovation Mode, 2021) — a thought-provoking look at 22 critical questions on organized innovation – answered by 60 of the world's leading authorities in this area – of which Anthony is one.

The Future Fit Manifesto (Future Fit, 2021) — a think-tank published manifesto charging organizations with proactively shaping their futures through ‘Future Fit’ practices — as opposed to passively waiting to see what the future hands them.   This work was released on the Twentieth Anniversary of the Agile Manifesto.

The Other Side of Growth: An Innovator's Responsibilities In An Emerging World (GInI, 2020) — a collaborative examination of the role of innovation in corporate growth, and the prescient need for Responsible Innovation in the age of Stakeholder Capitalism.

The GInI Applied Innovation Master Book (GInI, 2017) — the world's most comprehensive body of knowledge book on the topic of business innovation.

Collaborative Engineering and the Internet: Linking Product Development Partners Via the Web (SME, 1998) — the first book ever published on the subject of digitally-enabled collaborative innovation.

Anthony also serves as the Executive Director of Global Innovation Institute (GInI – www.gini.org) – the world's foremost professional certification, business accreditation, and membership organization in the field of business innovation.   At GInI, he can be reached at anthony.mills@gini.org.

Anthony ultimately uses his insights, experience, and skills to help organizations develop – and execute – solid innovation–driven growth strategies to lead their markets and shape their futures.

Steve is a seasoned Market Strategist and has worked in this field for many years inside of Fortune 500 businesses.   His work has focused on large-scale market forces, their impact on consumers, and the implications for future strategies.   Through this work, Steve has been instrumental in shaping the course of market insights, corporate and brand strategies, product innovations, and sales strategies.

“I've pursued a passion to understand how cultural and market changes impact business.   As an internal consultant for two Fortune 500 companies I kept an eye on a wide range of business drivers from the economy to social trends to technologies and everything in between.   I was able to identify key shifts the company leveraged to develop products that were right for their customers at the time, which maximized their market success.

Having participated in countless innovation sessions, product and brand development projects, and strategic planning sessions has given me a unique perspective on the needs of business and an ability to see how they can identify and act on market opportunities.”

Steve is a deeply associative thinker – constantly connecting dots to reveal new patterns that businesses leverage for strategic value.   He uses this skill, together with his many insights and experiences, to lead clients toward broad market opportunities and clear paths of action.   Steve has led countless innovation workshops with Fortune 500 clients that have produced numerous high–impact opportunities.

Steve holds certification in Strategic Foresight from the University of Houston – one of only a handful of schools in the world to offer this certification.   This has reinforced Steve's ability to conduct deeply insightful Trends Analysis and Scenario Planning.

Rocket is that little bit of magic that happens every day at Legacy Innovation Group… the one who really keeps us on our toes and everything humming along smoothly.   Whether it's Admin, Marketing, Research, or Customer Support, she's all over it.

Rocket epitomizes our culture at Legacy Innovation Group.   She loves innovation and our relentless pursuit of ‘what's next?’ for meeting the needs of markets and people.   She totally digs our ‘Appreciative Inquiry’ Process.   In fact, she's constantly observing and studying people and their situations… asking ‘Why this?’ and ‘Why that?’… trying to figure if there isn't a better way to do just about everything that gets done (which there usually is).

“I consider myself probably one of the most progressive Millennials I know.   So I really appreciate the fact that in so much of the work we do here, I have the opportunity to work toward all kinds of great purposes in the world.   It really is fascinating!   There's nothing like it anywhere else I've worked!   We really are ‘putting a dent in the universe’ here at Legacy Innovation Group.”

Rocket holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Michigan, and is presently working toward a Masters Degree in Anthropology at the University of Chicago.   But don't let all that fool you… she's no stranger to tech either.   She can code with the best of them!