Changes at Humanity Plus and Our Future Path

Natasha Vita-More is stepping down as the Executive Director of Humanity Plus and taking the title of President Emeritus. She will continue work with us to help lead the future of H+, but her aim is to spend more time on cutting-edge work that spans technology, longevity, and human futures.

Transhumanist pioneer.

Natasha was a pioneer of the original philosophy and worldview of transhumanism. Her televised talk show on technology and the future, airing in Los Angeles, along with her films and videos in the 1980s, introduced transhumanism to the public. She met Max More in 1992, after he authored the philosophy of transhumanism and founded Extropy Institute (ExI) in 1990. Natasha soon became its President and served in that position until it closed in 2004. Exl milestones included some of the first conferences on AI and longevity in the 1990s, and its 2004 public response to governmental restrictions on biotechnology with the well-known Vital Progress Summit and Proactionary Principle. ExI was a truly remarkable and inspirational non-profit organization that set the principles, direction, and action points for transhumanism.

ExI was followed by the non-profit now known as Humanity+ (formerly WTA), with Natasha as an Honorary Vice Chair. She became its Chair, then Executive Director until August 2024.

Natasha’s achievements.

Through Natasha’s leadership, Humanity+ has raised over $400,000 in donations to support education internationally. She co-produced and co-chaired the H+ Summits with a highlight in the 2020 Post-Pandemic Summit “A Future Free of Disease and Destruction,” which brought in 3,000 attendees. She co-chaired the original Future Day event in the Metaverse, and produced the weekly Transhumanist Studies Workshops for Humanity+ members. She produces the H+ Academy webinar bi-monthly discussion and debate that continually reaches maximum participant capacity. She developed Transhumanist Studies as an affiliate for Humanity+ and dedicated her short handbook Transhumanism What Is It? to our cause. Over the years, Natasha has been the heart and mind of our organization.

Ray Kurzweil said of her: Natasha Vita-More is a very engaging, highly regarded, and dramatic speaker, writer, and thinker on issues of life extension, artificial intelligence and its impact on society, and other topics that I also have a strong interest in. I have known her for decades and been inspired by her insights.

Natasha appears in over 24 televised films and documentaries about humanity's future. Natasha wrote the early Transhuman Manifesto (1983) which was launched into space in 1997 on the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft. She also developed the first future human body prototype

by integrating AI, nanorobots, and biology with Primo Posthuman (2003). You can find much more information about Natasha’s work on her website.

Humanity Plus Challenge.

We all celebrate Natasha’s role in launching a revolution, and the fruits of her efforts are clear. Three decades ago, radical life extension, artificial intelligence besting humans in high-level arenas of problem-solving, and an understanding that we can transcend the limits of our own biology were beyond cutting edge; they were considered the crazy stuff of science fiction.

Today, we have researchers discovering the processes that constitute aging and working on technologies to cure them. We have a plethora of conferences on a longevity revolution. We have ChatGPT and advanced AI not only in our phones and PCs but also poised to transform whole industries and economies. That is incredible success birthed by H+, led by Natasha!

Now H+ is considering what the next challenges are and the best ways to meet them in our attempt to unleash human creativities to unleash the next stage of the Enlightenment.

Changing of the Guard.

The H+ board has selected its member Edward Hudgins as Executive Director to help develop and implement H+’s strategy moving ahead. Ed has a decades-long background in public policy with a focus on science and technology, and in cultural advocacy, promoting an optimist vision of a future as it can be and should be.

About Edward Hudgens

Ed Hudgins is a long-time futurist. He was awarded a Ph.D. in political philosophy and international political economy, a MA in political theory and history, and BA in government and politics. Ed has taught at universities in the U.S. and Germany. He developed the Human Achievement Alliance to promote the responsible advancement of transformative technologies by uniting entrepreneurs, technologists, and advocates of liberty. It aims to cultivate prosperity by aligning technological progress with cultural values and an optimistic vision for humanity's future.

Ed and H+ will be following up with its members and friends on our organization’s future. And we look forward to Natasha’s future efforts that we trust will be as personally fulfilling for her as they help H+ fulfill its mission!