Education
Reform
Do American universities have an obligation to educate their students to be the next generation of citizens and civic leaders? What does it mean for a university “to offer students an education that will promote their flourishing as human beings, their judgment as moral agents, and their participation in society as democratic citizens”? Join a workshop with leaders from th...
Digital skills open doors to jobs in tech, media, and across all industries. Connecting diverse students and workers with the education and training needed for the 92% of today’s jobs that require digital skills creates a pipeline of talent, critical to driving economic opportunity and mobility.
As members of the Giving Pledge, Melanie and Richard Lundquist have given more than $400 million over the past decade to critical causes ranging from educational opportunity to health care access to climate change mitigation. What drives a modern philanthropist to do what they do, what models of giving work best, and where are the opportunities for private dollars to make...
With students learning in more places and different ways than we have ever seen, the pace of change in education is dizzying. Join our panel of education experts in a discussion about what the classroom of the future will look like, how educational innovation can bridge divides, and how we can work together to get there. Presented by the Walton Family Foundation
In this new Aspen Ideas format, all attendees gather each morning to kick off the day by exploring a current issue of deep complexity. Debates over the content of our historical narrative and cultural values have Americans of differing ideologies engaged in heated battle, with educators and students caught in between. Meanwhile, have we failed to meaningfully educate o...
At first blush, this year might be considered the year of parental power, with the proliferation of parental bills of rights across the country that put limitations on what can be taught in public schools and allow objecting parents to seek removal of books from the school library. These bills and similar legislation purport to provide parents a greater voice in their chil...
For over a decade, Ascend at the Aspen Institute has lifted up parents’ voices and experiences to inform bold solutions for economic mobility in the United States. How does lived expertise influence the way programs and policies are created? What can we learn from a new wave of philanthropic efforts to invest in communities and their parent leaders? Four dynamic leaders sh...
After over a year of disrupted learning, social isolation, and fear about returning to schools in person, Randi Weingarten, who heads the nation’s second-largest teacher’s union, talks about what’s at stake as schools look to safely reopen this fall. What have we learned from a year of unprecedented distance learning about what kids need and what they’re capable of? How ha...
US higher education is challenged by several dynamic forces: Americans are less likely than in the past to attend college, but those who do are more diverse. Costs and debt are rising — as is mistrust of higher education. And the skills needed to succeed in the workforce are evolving rapidly as technology advances. Can the nation’s 4,000 colleges and universities succeed b...
The Aspen Challenge presents three high school teams from Louisville and one team from Dallas who developed innovative solutions to issues that have chronically impacted their communities. See these young change-makers take to the stage to prove that entrepreneurial community solutions can be created at any age. Learn how Justin F. Kimball and Central High School Magnet Ca...
The world faces many challenges—from climate change to political instability to widening inequality—that transcend borders and impact us all. If today’s young people are to be equipped with the imagination and skillsets to tackle these growing threats, educational excellence is key. How do we build successful education systems at scale and in every community? And what expe...
Recent years have seen the wane of the threat of ISIS, even as white supremacists carry out more violent attacks across the globe, from Christchurch, New Zealand, to Charlottesville, VA. What leads someone down the path of political extremism, what causes them to become violent, and how do authorities or community leaders help stop — or reverse — extremism?
As income inequality grows, leaders have the power to unite and divide us. The Aspen Institute Ascend Fellowship invests in diverse, entrepreneurial leaders from a range of sectors who have breakthrough ideas to build economic security, educational success, and health and well-being for families in the US. Hear from several dynamic leaders from the Ascend Fellowship on the...
“Weavers” are a diverse group of Americans who are making quiet yet extraordinary efforts to strengthen the communities in which they live. Each of these leaders is taking on a very different challenge — be it suicide prevention, housing, urban revitalization, or immigrant rights — but they all focus foremost on the transformative power of human relationships. Learn about...
America’s heartland is quietly upending traditional notions of how cities work to deliver on their promise of shared prosperity. This means local governments, philanthropy, and the private sector have to work together and work differently. Jennifer Bradley of the Center for Urban Innovation and Rip Rapson of the Kresge Foundation discuss how leaders from Detroit, Fresno, M...
All great superheros have origin stories, those profound life experiences that compel them to fight for a cause. Join us for a breakfast conversation with three remarkable Aspen New Voices Fellows who have turned their life experiences into power to address some of the world’s most difficult social issues. Metsehate Ayenekulu, the daughter of a child bride who narrowly esc...
The University of Chicago has just announced new funding to expand access to a broader talent pool of well-deserving applicants, ending requirements to send in scores for ACT and SAT tests. The College Board has revised the SAT to emphasize classroom study and offers free practice tests through top online-ed site Khan Academy, to give every student the opportunity to prepa...
Will the boom in asset prices come to an end, and should it? How spectacular will the correction be? Will tax cuts boost the economy, leading us to better returns, or should we be more cautious investors? Significant investors share their perspectives with the managing editor of The Financial Times.