innovator (n.)

• agent
• ancestor
• announcer
• antecedent
• architect
• author
• avant-garde
• bellwether
• buccinator
• bushwhacker
• catalyst
• creator
• developer
• explorer
• ferment
• forebear
• forerunner
• frontiersman
• fugleman
• groundbreaker
• guide
• harbinger
• herald
• inventor
• leader
• leaven
• maker
• messenger
• modifier
• original
• originator
• pathfinder
• pioneer
• point
• precedent
• precursor
• predecessor
• producer
• scout
• trailblazer
• transformer
• vanguard
• yeast