Marco Lampugnani was a Black Swan in my life. Firstly, because we coincided one week after the start of the worldwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic; secondly, because in that moment of personal and professional uncertainty, he invited me to collaborate on a project to imagine the future.

Learning to imagine the future and inviting others to do so in that historical moment was as unpredictable in my life as the pandemic itself.

Even after the two projects we worked on during the pandemic, Future Learning with Tecnológico de Monterrey and Public Futurization: Social Innovation in Prospective with the Social Innovation Laboratory in León, Guanajuato, I have been fortunate to witness how Marco has become a Black Swan for many other people.

Marco co-founded the Vice-Rectorate of Innovation and Transformation at Tecmilenio, where he has dedicated himself to two things: 1. Being the Italian of the team, and 2. Disrupting the paradigms of current higher education. Just like me, Tecmilenio didn’t see it coming. Thanks to the bold ideas he has pushed forward within the institution and his efforts to build a strong community within our team, Tecmilenio’s innovation lab has expanded its impact, creating products that showcase new possibilities for education in Mexico and influencing the organization’s strategic decisions.

Like a true Black Swan, Marco is unpredictable, just like the world he is a product of, and he generates profound consequences for the individuals and institutions fortunate enough to cross paths with him.