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CAL POLY POMONA · COLLEGE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

We help business leaders see around the corner — before they have to turn it.

A think-and-do tank that moves at the speed of change, not the speed of peer review.
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Our vision →
THE STAKES

People to help. Problems to solve. Tools to do it — at every scale.

LOCAL
1.8M
people in our region
31 cities across the San Gabriel Valley — whose economy we track monthly.
SGV Economic Forecast, 2026
NATIONAL
Biggest
gains
for students who need it most
AI literacy training produced the largest knowledge gains among the lowest-baseline students — not the highest.
Lin, CA Learning Lab AI FAST Grant, 2024–26
GLOBAL
3×
the number of refugees in 10 years
Over 120 million people forcibly displaced worldwide — and only 5% are resettled each year.
Ong & Nungsari, Springer, 2026
WHAT WE DO

Three ways we democratize foresight.

01
See Around Corners
AI-powered forecasts, synthetic market research, and real-time commentary.
02
Surface What's Being Built in the Garage
Seminars, roundtables, and a flagship Moonshot Conference.
03
Develop the People Who Will Change Things
Fellows programs for faculty, visiting scholars, and students.
OUR TEAM

Meet the founding team.

Anthony W. Orlando
Director
Finance, Real Estate & Law
Yufan (Frank) Lin
Faculty Fellow
Marketing
L. Lin Ong
Faculty Fellow
Int'l Business & Marketing
Meet the full team →
THE TARKINGTON STORY

The Tarkington Business Futures Institute was made possible by a transformative gift from Alan and Stephanie Tarkington — in honor of their belief that the best knowledge should be available to everyone, not just a fortunate few.

Read their story →
LATEST RESEARCH

What our fellows are working on.

ACTIVE PROJECT · YUFAN LIN
Grant awarded
Scaling AI literacy across the business school
Extending a validated AI literacy framework into agribusiness and technology management, building toward a statewide grand challenge bid.
PUBLISHED · L. LIN ONG
What does empowerment mean for a life in limbo?
A year-long study of Afghan refugee women entrepreneurs proposes a new framework for measuring impact when displacement defines daily life.
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© 2026 Tarkington Business Futures Institute · Cal Poly Pomona
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