About

Frans Johansson

Frans Johansson is an author, speaker and entrepreneur. The Medici Effect was named one of the best innovation books of the year by several organizations and was selected as one of the top 10 best business books by Amazon.com. It has been translated into 17 languages.

The book looks at how individuals, teams and organizations can create an explosion of remarkable ideas at the intersection of different fields, cultures and industries. Frans has been living in the Intersection most of his life; he was a founder of both a Boston-based software company and a medical device company operating out of Baltimore, Maryland and Stockholm, Sweden. He has written articles on healthcare, information technology and the science of sport fishing. He has been featured on CNN’s AC360, ABC's Early Morning Show, and CNBC’s The Business of Innovation series along with Jack Welch and Muhammad Yunus.

Frans enjoys playing Dungeons & Dragons, fishing with his father and friends and pursuing a never ending array of intersectional ideas. Raised in Sweden by his African- American and Cherokee mother and Swedish father, Frans earned his BS in environmental science at Brown University and his MBA at Harvard Business School. Frans currently resides in New York City with his wife and daughter.

The Medici Group

The Medici Group works with individuals and organizations around the world to generate an incredible number of ideas and turn the best ones into groundbreaking solutions.

Led by Frans Johansson, the Medici Group provides a unique learning experience for those ready to embrace the lessons of The Medici Effect. By bringing together the richness of diversity, and the ideas you’re most passionate about, you can change the world. We can help you do it.

Sweet Joy Hachuela

Sweet Joy Hachuela oversees the growth and global expansion of The Medici Group. Formerly, she was a public health educator and advocate, a corporate diversity expert, and an entrepreneur focusing on cross-cultural leadership and women of color issues. Sweet Joy is passionate about creating meaningful and positive changes in the world.

Born in the Philippines and raised in San Jose, California, she received a BS in Biological Sciences at University of California, Santa Barbara and MSc from Harvard School of Public Health. She is living and working with her husband and baby daughter in their brownstone in Brooklyn, NY.

Kristian Ribberström

Kristian Ribberström is the product developer for the Medici Group. This work includes developing education programs and research on intersectional innovation. Previously, Kristian taught philosophy and languages at high schools in Sweden and has developed case study methodology in various entrepreneurial settings.

He studied education in England, taught English and eco-empowerment in France, and fostered exchanges between students from Sweden and Italy. Naturally, Kristian is passionate about exploring intersections between different cultures, migrations, and multiethnic societies. You can read his findings in the Medici Blog.

Sandra Ljung

Sandra Ljung has worked for the World Bank in Washington DC, and for African Development Bank in Tunis. At both institutions, she monitored and evaluated the banks’ comprehensive development goals. She has worked in public television in Boston and commercial television in London.

After years of studying, working, and living in different parts of the world, Sandra returned to her hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden, where she now lives with her husband and two sons. Her lifestyle has nurtured a never-ending curiosity about the world and its myriad of cultures. She is currently a freelance writer and provides probing pieces on social and cultural intersections for the Medici Blog.