Ideas Winter 2017/2018

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CONTENTS
DEPARTMENTS
6 | W H AT I S T H E I N S T I T U T E ?
11 | A R O U N D T H E I N S T I T U T E
The Institute prepares for its new headquarters; we head to
Paris for CityLab; Ava DuVernay talks creativity and justice;
leaders ponder artificial intelligence; we look at the fusion of
Dan Bayer
cultures on the border with Mexico; and more.
6
32 | A S H E A R D AT
The Institutes own Eric L. Motley takes us on a tour of
his hometown, Madison Park, Alabama, and we present an
excerpt of his new memoir, Madison Park: A Place of Hope;
Martin Baron, executive editor of The Washington Post, discusses
the importance of journalism in a world of fake news; and
economist Richard Reeves explains why the wealth gap in the
United States is getting larger.
42 | I M PA C T
Melanie Leigh Wilbur

Three Aspen New Voices Fellows write about their businesses
in India and Ghana, creating safer cities in India and Nepal for
women, bringing STEM education to African girls, and helping
26
rural Indian farmers influence agriculture policy; leaders from
the Financial Security Programs Expanding Prosperity Impact
Collaborative improve the financial resilience of city residents
in St. Louis and across the nation.
82 | FA C E S
Behind the scenes at Institute events.
86 | FA C T S
Get to know the Institutes programs.
92 | PA R T I N G S H O T
Riccardo Savi
The Aspen Institute celebrates the rites of winter.
32
ON THE COVER
Lana Abu-Hijleh, winner of the 2017 McNulty Prize
(Photo 2017 Robert A. Ripps)
Elsa DSilva
42
2 IDEAS WINTER 2017/18

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CONTENTS
FEATURES
50 | THE McNULTY EFFECT
This year, the John P. McNulty Prize, which honors Aspen Global Leadership
Network Fellows with exceptional projects, celebrates its 10th anniversary.
Johnny McNulty and Nina Sawhney look back at the founding of the
prize, the social-impact ventures its laureates have created around the world,
and ahead to plans for growth.
56 | BRINGING YOUNG VOICES INTO EVERY CONVERSATION

Aspen Challenge, Bezos Scholars, Teen Socrates, Aspen Young Leaders
Fellowship, AspenX, Archetype, Hurst Great Ideas Student Seminars, Young
Adult Forum at Aspen Ideas Festival, Youth Commission on Social, Emotional,
and Academic Development, and dozens more programs and special events
all are geared toward creating the next generation of leaders. Alison Decker
explores the Institutes newestand maybe its most funendeavor.
64 | THE SECRET SHELTER

The Institutes campus on the Wye River in Maryland has a secret bunker
Fish Forever
beneath it, built in the middle of the century amid Cold War fears of a nuclear
attack. Meryl Chertoff explores the underground lair, Arthur Houghtons
53
attention to detail, and what the space means to todays equally perilous world.
THE JOURNAL OF IDEAS

72 | BURNING THE CONSTITUTION
Congress is immobile. Justice is undermined daily. Liberty is under threat
from government encroachment. Truth has been defined down. Many
millennials dont think democracy matters. Its time for those who still believe
in our founding document, Mickey Edwards says, to take up the flag.
74 | MISSED GOALS
72 74
Latino culture has a passion for soccer. And yet in the US, where the Latino
population has exploded, soccer remains an exclusive game for white kids
in the suburbs. Latino children face a number of barriers to the sport:
language, documentation, green space, expenses. Imagine, Jon Solomon
asks, if we could harness all that untapped talent.
76 | THE CITY, REINVENTED

Its easy to think of a big, diverse city as a hub of inventionwhen more
minds are put to a task, the better the outcome. Unfortunately, many cities
are still stratified by outdated zoning policies meant to silo neighborhoods by
class and race. But now, Jennifer Bradley says, city planners are uniting
these urban fragments. Thats good, because more inclusive cities are more
innovative cities.
76
78 | EMPOWERMENT, NOT FEAR
Many in the working class feel left out of the current world order. As a
result, the West is seeing a surge in nationalism and populism. Many think
technology is to blame: it strips laborers of jobs and then foments their anger
Illustrations by Kissane Viola Design
over it online. So should we regulate or restrict technology? No, Michael

Koran says. We should embrace it.
80 | THE SPIRITUAL TOOLBOX

Religious scripture has long given people comfort in times of distress or at the
end of their lives. But for many, a potboiler or a poem has the same effect.
Kerry Egan, a chaplain who is also a writer, explores how words and stories
of all kinds can inspire deep meaning.
78 80

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WHAT IS THE ASPEN INSTITUTE?
Dan Bayer
The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization headquartered in Washington,
DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue
for dealing with critical issues. The Institute has campuses in Aspen, Colorado, and on the Wye River
on Marylands Eastern Shore. It also maintains offices in New York City and has an international
network of partners.

Dan Bayer

EDITOR'S LETTER
WALTER ISAACSON
President and Chief Executive Officer
ELLIOT F. GERSON
Executive Vice President, Policy and Public Programs; International Partners
NAMITA KHASAT
Executive Vice President, Finance and Administrative Services;
Riccardo Savi
Chief Financial Officer; Corporate Treasurer
ERIC L. MOTLEY, PhD

Executive Vice President, Institutional Advancement;Corporate Secretary
I
PETER REILING
Executive Vice President, Leadership and Seminar Programs;
n a season of change at the Institute, some things remain constants. Executive Director, Henry Crown Fellowship Program
One is the quality and range of leaders who pass through our
RAJIV VINNAKOTA
doorsdoors that span the globe. In a recent presentation, Executive Vice President, Youth & Engagement Programs
Maureen Conway, the vice president for policy programs at the CINDY BUNISKI
Institute, created an interactive map to show the places where the more Vice President, Administration; Executive Director, Aspen Wye Campus
than 30 policy programs at the Institute operate, meet, and touch and JAMES M. SPIEGELMAN
improve peoples lives. It had many, many more dots in unexpected Vice President, Chief External Affairs Officer; Deputy to the President
towns deep in rural as well as urban areas than the audienceInstitute
friends allexpected. Then Conway showed the group a map of the EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AND PUBLISHER CORBY KUMMER
EXECUTIVE EDITOR SACHA ZIMMERMAN
world, and their surprise only grew. The maps will soon appear on
MANAGING EDITORS NICOLE COREA, ALISON DECKER
aspeninstitute.org, and my wager is that theyll surprise you, too. ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER DOUGLAS FARRAR
Few groups personify the intense focus and help that Institute-trained SENIOR EDITORS JEAN MORRA, JAMES M. SPIEGELMAN
leaders apply than the ones recognized every year by the McNulty Prize, DESIGN DIRECTOR KATIE KISSANE-VIOLA
who apply business skills and bootstrapping enterprise to ideas that CREATIVE DIRECTOR PAUL VIOLA
change lives. As our cover story shows, laureates go where conventional DESIGNER MICHAEL STOUT
EDITOR EMERITUS JAMIE MILLER
nonprofits cant, whether that be distributing eyeglass kits that allow rural
MANAGING DIRECTOR, COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS PHERABE KOLB
women to make and sell glasses or guaranteeing a market for smallholder ADVERTISING CYNTHIA CAMERON, 970.948.8177, adsales@aspeninstitute.org
farmers in Uganda. The winners are but a few of the years particularly CONTACT EDITORIAL ideas.magazine@aspeninstitute.org
noteworthy fellows from the Aspen Global Leadership Network, whose GENERAL The Aspen Institute,
well of dauntingly active leaders startle me at any gathering I happen One Dupont Circle NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20036
upon with the sheer electricity they emit. 202.736.5800, www.aspeninstitute.org
As the Institute faces its new future under new leadership, it is

BOARD OF TRUSTEES CHAIRMAN: James S. Crown
building the countrys next cadre of leadersand more deliberately than
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
ever before, with the inclusion of young voices throughout all programs Madeleine K. Albright, Jean-Luc Allavena, Paul F. Anderson, Donna Barksdale, Mercedes T. Bass, Miguel Bezos,
as part of the new Youth & Engagement framework. Anyone who Richard S. Braddock, Beth A. Brooke-Marciniak, William D. Budinger, William Bynum, Stephen L. Carter, Troy
encouters the young people the division bring to the table or the stage Carter, Cesar R. Conde, Phyllis Coulter, Katie Couric, Andrea Cunningham, Kenneth L. Davis, John Doerr,
Thelma Duggin, Arne Duncan, Michael D. Eisner, L. Brooks Entwistle, Alan Fletcher, Henrietta H. Fore, Ann B.
has a wow moment. Mine was hearing a team of high-school students Friedman, Juan Ramn de la Fuente, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Mircea D. Geoana, Antonio Gracias,
from the Sankofa Freedom Academy, in Philadelphia, perform a rap Patrick W. Gross, Arjun Gupta, Jane Harman, Kaya Henderson, Hayne Hipp, Ivan Hodac, Mark S. Hoplamazian,
describing their plan to reduce food waste Gerald D. Hosier, Robert J. Hurst, Walter Isaacson, Natalie Jaresko, Salman Khan, Teisuke Kitayama, Michael
and feed more studentssubjects close Klein, David H. Koch, Satinder K. Lambah, Laura Lauder, Yo-Yo Ma, James M. Manyika, William E. Mayer,*
Bonnie P. McCloskey, David McCormick, Anne Welsh McNulty, Diane Morris, Karlheinz Muhr, Clare Muana,
to my heart, as director of the Institutes Jerry Murdock, Marc B. Nathanson, William A. Nitze, Her Majesty Queen Noor, Jacqueline Novogratz,
Food and Society Program. They were Olara A. Otunnu, Elaine Pagels, Carrie Walton Penner, Margot L. Pritzker, Peter A. Reiling, Lynda Resnick,
just one of the teams brought to the Condoleezza Rice, James Rogers, Ricardo B. Salinas, Lewis A. Sanders, Anna Deavere Smith, Michelle Smith,
Javier Solana, Robert K. Steel,* Shashi Tharoor,** Laurie M. Tisch, Giulio Tremonti, Eckart von Klaedan,
Aspen campus to compete in this years Roderick K. von Lipsey, Vin Weber
Aspen Challenge. At at time when the *Chairman Emeritus **On Leave of Absence
Institutes north star remains a
LIFETIME TRUSTEES CO-CHAIRMEN: Berl Bernhard, Ann Korologos*
place people find solutions
in a nonpartisan setting, LIFETIME TRUSTEES
Keith Berwick, James C. Calaway,*
their optimism was as Lester Crown, Tarun Das, William H. Donaldson, Sylvia A. Earle, Richard N. Gardner, David Gergen,
reassuring as it was Alma L. Gildenhorn, Jacqueline Grapin, Gerald Greenwald, Irvine O. Hockaday Jr., Nina Rodale Houghton,
infectious. Anne Frasher Hudson, Jrme Huret, William N. Joy, Henry A. Kissinger, Leonard A. Lauder,*
Frederic V. Malek, Robert H. Malott, Olivier Mellerio, Sandra Day OConnor,
Hisashi Owada, Thomas R. Pickering, Charles Powell, Jay Sandrich, Lloyd G. Schermer, Carlo Scognamiglio,
Roman Cho
Corby Kummer Albert H. Small, Andrew L. Stern, Paul A. Volcker, Leslie H. Wexner, Frederick B. Whittemore, Alice Young
*Chairman Emeritus
The Aspen Institute sets high standards to ensure forestry is practiced in an environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically viable manner.
This issue was printed by American Web on recycled fibers containing 10 percent postconsumer waste, with inks containing a blend of soy base. Our printer is a certified member of the Forestry Stewardship Council and
the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, and it meets or exceeds all federal Resource Conservation Recovery Act standards.

Great leaders strive
to create
a better place to live.
Riccardo Savi
A great realtor
does much the same.
Carrie Wells
VISION, INNOVATION, LONGEVITY.
Those are a few of the qualities of a
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the dedication needed to help you
find your Aspen dream, and the tenacity
necessary to turn that dream into a reality.
If youre interested in Aspen, give Carrie a call.
Shes dedicated to creating a space
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Roman Cho
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ICONS
Collection
& cashmire
AROUND THE INSTITUTE
TAX AND FACTS Tax policy can dramatically impact low- and moderate-income workers. Certain
tax creditssuch as the Earned Income Tax Creditare targeted to working families to supplement income and encourage
employment. But taxes also influence corporate behavior, like where to locate businesses, how many and what kind of jobs to
create, and what benefits and compensation to offer. With tax reform on the agenda in Washington, the Economic Opportunities
Programs Working in America series explored the ways that taxes affect low- and moderate-income Americans.
aspeninstitute.org/eop
IN 2015: 6.5 MILLION PEOPLE OUT THE EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT LIFTED
OF POVERTY, INCLUDING
3.3 MILLION CHILDREN.
21%
21% OF ELIGIBLE
TAXPAYERS DID
NOT CLAIM THE
EARNED INCOME
27 MILLION TAXPAYERS
{ 18%
TAX CREDIT.
OF THOSE WHO
FILED TAXES
RECEIVED THE EARNED
INCOME TAX CREDIT.
54.5% OF FAMILIES
MAKING LESS THAN
THE AVERAGE $30,000

EARNED INCOME USED PAID PREPARERS.
TAX CREDIT WAS
1.7%
$2,455
BUT ONLY OF ELIGIBLE TAXPAYERS TOOK
. ADVANTAGE OF VOLUNTEER INCOME TAX ASSISTANCE.
Courtesy Nation Waste

Rios
NOT JUST TACOS HERE

Maria Rios owns a thriving waste-management company: Nation the lifeblood of the US economy, Latinos are its heart.
Waste. Starting with a business plan, a bank loan, and a truck, she Still, a majority of Latino businesses stay small. The unmet
built a multimillion-dollar business from the garbage heap up. Rioss potential of Latino business growth leaves a lot of economic
road to the top hasnt been without bumps, though. She once walked opportunity on the table. That motivated the Institutes Latinos
onto a jobsite to pitch her business, only to be turned away. The and Society Program to examine why these businesses have trouble
superintendent said he didnt need any tacos. Rios handed him her scaling up and growing. The program partnered with the Surdna
card and informed him his dumpsters were overflowing. A week later, Foundation and the Latino Business Action Network at Stanford
she got a call, an apology, and a loyal client. University and met with a high-powered group of business leaders.
Rioss experience illustrates how Latino Americans are challenged The partners found a commonality among Latino businesses: for
by stereotypes that make it difficult for them to grow businesses. banks to see their obvious potential, they need to be recast from a
And yet Latinos have started businesses at three times the rate of deficit community to the asset community they are. That way more
the general population, and the number of Latino-owned businesses Marias (and Miguels) can keep the economy humming.
has more than doubled over the last 13 years. If small businesses are aspeninstitute.org/latinos-society

Richard Jopson
DuVernay and Woetzel
CREATING ART, CREATING JUSTICE

Courtesy Nation Waste
On October 5, the Conversations with Great Leaders in Memory 13th, her recent documentary that takes an in-depth look at the 13th
of Preston Robert Tisch series featured award-winning film Amendment, which abolished slavery. She argues that racial injustice
and television director Ava DuVernay, a 2017 Institute artist-in- perpetuates slavery through mass incarceration. Woetzel noted that
residence. DuVernay spoke with Arts Program Director Damian the film inspired the Ford Foundation and Agnes Gunds new Art for
Woetzel about the impact of her films, including Selma, the Golden Justice Fund to support criminal-justice reform. 13th has shown me
Globenominated movie about the civil-rights movementthe first the power of documentary film as a weapon, DuVernay said. And
such nomination for a black female director. DuVernay said it is her that is powerful. DuVernays latest directing project, coming in
mission to create opportunities for black filmmakers, particularly March, is A Wrinkle in Time, based on the novel by Madeleine LEngle.
women, through her film collective, ARRAY. DuVernay also discussed aspeninstitute.org/arts
A LEGACY OF VALUES
Institute founder Walter Paepcke once said that seminars help a who have made a commitment to support the Institute beyond
leader gain access to his or her own humanity by becoming more their lifetimes to celebrate the values at the core of its mission.
self-aware, more self-correcting, and more self-fulfilling. This The Heritage Society is composed of longstanding trustees and
summer, Aspen Institute Heritage Society members participated Society of Fellows members who have made a bequest or other
in a custom seminar, Values in the Crucible, modeled after the planned gift. It also includes supporters who have forged a
classic Executive Seminar. The discussion tackled two topics: The meaningful connection to a specific Institute initiative and want
Republic of Conscience and Of Hope and History. Participants to ensure that its impact continues to grow. Their generosity will
explored their individual legacy and their role in creating a better be felt throughout the Institute for generations. aspeninstitute.
future for generations to come. The seminar allowed individuals org/heritage-society
Smith
BRAIN SCIENCE:
REWIRING FAMILY POLICIES
Becoming a parent rewires the brainyet policymakers often overlook the
power of this transformation. In September, Ascend at the Aspen Institute
hosted a Brain Science and Positive Parenting roundtable to connect the latest
research to programs and policies. In partnership with the Ford Foundation,
Ascend invited leaders from across science, parenting, and policy to explore new
neurological research. Scientists have learned so much about parenting in the
past decadebut very little of that information reaches the families who need it
most. The challenges of becoming a parent are often compounded by poverty,
making parenting a sport played on a very uneven playing field, said Ascend
fellow Sarah Watamura, a psychology professor at the University of Denver.
Watamura and Ascend Network Partner Megan Smith of the New Haven
Mental Health Outreach for Mothers Partnership shared the latest research
on brain science and applied programs for parenting. Then federal, state, and
community leaders shared pragmatic insights into how this
research can be woven into family programs and services.
From executive function to economic-return research,
Anne Mosle, the executive director of Ascend, said, we
have a great opportunity to leverage the lessons from
Lori Severens
brain science to support families in need.
aspeninstitute.org/ascend
AUTONOMY IN AN AGE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Artificial intelligence poses both opportunities
and challenges to society: what are Americas first
principles about AI, and when might restrictions
on liberty be warranted? For the second year, the
Institutes Communications and Society Program
convened leaders from across disciplines and
ideologies to explore pressing concerns around the
rise of AI technologies. This year, the Roundtable
on Artificial Intelligence, sponsored by the Ferro
Institute, focused on how AI will enhance or restrict
human interest in personal autonomy. Participants
engaged in a vigorous debate on the meaning of
autonomy and to what extent AI technologies reflect
or exacerbate social inequalities. Most notable
was the discussion surrounding issues in the use
of AI technologies in the criminal-justice system.
Participants also explored a future in which AI
systems and humans coevolve. The report on the
2017 roundtable will be available in early 2018 at
Dan Bayer
csreports.aspeninstitute.org.
2017 Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence participants

Lifestyle. Luxury. Legacy.
WELL FIND YOURS.
JONATHAN FEINBERG PJ BORY ASHLEY CHOD COLTER SMITH NICK LINCOLN
RYAN ELSTON TONY DILUCIA JAMES MAGUIRE LAUREN BULLARD
RYAN THOMPSON SCOTT DAVIDSON CHRIS FLYNN MONICA VIALL
RANKED
IN SALES
PER BROKER*
Shutter Stock
Start searching properties now at

AspenAssociatesRealty.com IDEAS WINTER 2017/18 17
*Based on total dollar volume sold from ABOR 2016 year end stats. 970.544.5800 Info@AspenAssociatesRealty.com
HURRICANE AT THE LIBRARY

The Institutes Dialogue on Public Libraries, in partnership with the educational, economic, social, and technological transformations
Houston Public Library, planned to convene the Houston Dialogue taking place in Houston and across the country. The recovery
on Public Libraries in Houston in mid-September. But they hadnt session demonstrated just how powerful that response could be.
planned on Hurricane Harvey. The event was postponed, and Participants identified immediate goals, elements necessary for
the Houston Public Library and the Institute decided instead to a strong recovery, and collaborations that could transform their
invite participants to meet for a two-hour recovery session. Over devastated city.
20 high-level civic and business leaders gathered to share their In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, homes and businesses were
experiences, identify ongoing challenges and needs, and exchange destroyed, lives were lost, and many communities are still in need of
information about how participants were using their resources to resources and information. The recovery session was a start, and the
help the community recover. rescheduled Houston Dialogue on Public Libraries continued the
In many ways, that is exactly what the Dialogue on Public conversation later in the fall. Participants defined specific actions
Libraries series does: shine a light on libraries as vital community the Houston Public Library and its partners can take to leverage
hubs. The original goal of the event was to identify strategic library resources and build a stronger, more equitable Houston.
opportunities for the citys public libraries in response to the libraryvision.org
Shutter Stock
Houston

Lifestyle. Luxury. Legacy.
WELL FIND YOURS.
JONATHAN FEINBERG PJ BORY ASHLEY CHOD COLTER SMITH NICK LINCOLN
RYAN ELSTON TONY DILUCIA JAMES MAGUIRE LAUREN BULLARD
RYAN THOMPSON SCOTT DAVIDSON CHRIS FLYNN MONICA VIALL
RANKED
IN SALES
PER BROKER*
Shutter Stock
Start searching properties now at

AspenAssociatesRealty.com IDEAS WINTER 2017/18 17
*Based on total dollar volume sold from ABOR 2016 year end stats. 970.544.5800 Info@AspenAssociatesRealty.com
Whitney Peterson
Carlos Martinez-Vela, Regina Bernal, Guillermo Mejia, and Ricardo Mora
FUSION ON THE BORDER

In cities along the nearly 2,000-mile US-Mexico border, benefit from what it has to offer. It highlighted the rich tapestry
creativity and entrepreneurial success are abundantbut often of possibilities in border communitiesthanks to both their
invisible. To shed light on this region, the Latinos and Society location and the inherent assets that bicultural groups offer. At
Program joined the Institute of the Americas for a conversation a time when some want to close borders, this event highlighted
Courtesy Opportunity Threads

on innovation and culture at the border, where the convergence what can be gained by making the most of the potential of the
of two cultures results in a fusion of music, art, architecture, borderlands. We should harness the energy, creativity, and
and food. The event explored opportunities for collaboration economic potential of regions like this, Latinos and Society
in the Calibaja mega-region. It focused on ensuring that those Program Chair Monica Lozano said.
contributing to the border economy, often Latino Americans, aspeninstitute.org/latinos-society
CAN THE MEDIA REBUILD TRUST WITH AMERICA?

Trust in democratic institutions has steadily declined over the Knight Commission on Trust, Media and Democracy participants
past few decades. Many American readers distrust the press

more and more. During the 2016 presidential election, public
discourse devolved into talk of fake news, alternative facts,
and a dismissal of well-reported articles. In response, the
Institutes Communications and Society Program, in partnership
with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, launched a
special yearlong project on rebuilding trust in US institutions,
particularly journalism. The Knight Commission on Trust, Media
and Democracy will ask: what caused this lack of trust, and how
can the media rebuild it? The commission includes Institute
CEO Walter Isaacson and Knight Foundation President
Alberto Ibargen, who will serve ex officio. The commission
co-chairs are Anthony Marx, the president of the New York Public
Library, and Jamie Woodson, the CEO of the State Collaborative
on Reforming Education in Tennessee. A comprehensive report
Dan Bayer
will be released in fall 2018. aspeninstitute.org/c&s

Whitney Peterson
Courtesy Opportunity Threads
An Opportunity Threads employee and co-owner
MADE IN THE USA

After an era of marked decline, rural manufacturing is on the site. Dana Jordan, the CEO of Cascade Rescue Company in
upswingalong with the high-quality jobs it brings to community Sandpoint, Idaho, which makes the leading rescue products used
prosperity. Manufacturing employs 3.5 million people, 14 percent in disaster situations around the world, explained that his company
of the rural workforce, and produces 15 percent of total rural hires workers at a salary above their skill level to attract workers
earnings. Counter to common perception, manufacturing accounts and ensure their families have a decent standard of living. A once-
for more than double agricultures presence in the rural economy. robust North Carolina textile industry has seen mills close and jobs
The Americas Rural Opportunity series explores rural innovation vanish through decades of outsourcingan industry that Molly
and strategies that help rural families, communities, and businesses. Hemstreet, the founder of Opportunity Threads, and Tanya Wade,
In September, the fifth session, Rural Grown, Local Owned the intake administrator at Carolina Textile District, are reviving.
Manufacturing, showcased firms with pioneering business Through a unique collaboration among a worker-owned cut-and-
practices that are making state-of-the-art products and selling sew business, county economic developers, an innovation center,
them worldwide. and local mills, Opportunity Threads is meeting a growing demand
Brad Goskowiczthe CEO of Microbiologics in St. Cloud, for domestic, environmentally friendly textiles.
Minnesota, which produces 900 strains of ready-to-use The Americas Rural Opportunity series, organized by
microorganisms for the clinical, pharmaceutical, food, water, the Institutes Community Strategies Group with the Rural
and educational industriessaid his firm recently expanded by Development Innovation Group, will continue through 2018.
Dan Bayer
revitalizing a local neighborhood rather than choosing an easier aspeninstitute.org/series/americas-rural-opportunity

EUROPE:
THE NEXT GENERATION
The European Union has encountered great change
since its 1957 founding. Now, 60 years after the
Treaty of Rome, the European Union faces new
challenges: Brexit, a wave of nationalist populism,
and even a vote for independence by Catalonia.
Will the EU experiment survive? If so, what values
will define it? In September, the Aspen Initiative for
Europe, Aspen Institute Italia, and Aspen Institute
Espaa gathered 25 young leaders for a seminar
in Spoleto, Italy, to explore these questions and to
examine the meaning of citizenship, the effects of
welfare systems, and the nature of war and peace.
Participants, who hailed from a range of professional
backgrounds and nationalities, wrestled with these
topics over three days. The seminar offered these
young leaders a space to debate European values
in a changing and interconnected world. The Aspen
Initiative for Europe developed the Young European
Marcelo Lago
Leaders group to engage emerging leaders under 35.
Inaugural Young European Leaders of the Aspen Initiative for Europe aspenforeurope.org/young-european-leaders
ELECTED AND SELECTED

The Institutes Rodel Fellowships in Public Leadership program announced its 13th class of fellows,
bringing its roster to more than 300. The fellowship identifies some of the nations most promising
young political leaders and then brings them together for conversations that explore the
principles of Western democracy, the relationship between individuals and their community,
and the responsibilities of public service. The fellowship also supports leaders who are
committed to thoughtful, civil, bipartisan dialogue. After an intensive yearlong search, the
2017 class is a mixture of mayors, statewide officials, and state legislative leaders from
Courtesy Greater City of Providence
across the United States, including California State Senator Ben Allen, New Mexico
State Representative Sarah Maestas Barnes, Minneapolis City Councilwoman Lisa
Bender, and Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza. Members of earlier Rodel classes
have become governors, members of Congress, and federal cabinet secretaries.
aspeninstitute.org/rodel Elorza

Elevating Healthcare
IN ASPEN
Making sure our residents and visitors
have a clear path to critical and life-saving
services is a shared mission of Aspen
Valley Hospital and Aspen Valley Hospital
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art technology has been possible only
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Laurence Genon
Manfred and writer Terry McDermott
GOOD SPORTS
According to Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred,
the MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL commissioners all agree that
the best athlete is one who plays several sports. Multiple sports
give body parts rest, Manfred told more than 400 people at the
Institutes 2017 Project Play Summit in Washington. Some of you
crazy parents are making these kids go nuts, playing one sport,
former MLB player Harold Reynolds said. I want you playing all
kinds of different sports. To that end, the Institutes Sports &
Society Program announced its new Project Play 2020 initiative,
which marks the first time industry and nonprofit organizations
have come together to increase youth participation in sports. It
is absolutely amazing how fast this formidable group got Project
Play 2020 off the ground so quickly, said Craig Robinson, a
Ogwumike
New York Knicks executive (and Michelle Obamas brother), who
made an appeal at last years summit for just such an initiative. star Angela Ruggiero, WNBA player Chiney Ogwumike, ex-
The summit sold out for the third straight year, and #ProjectPlay NFL player Chris Kluwe, and former US Surgeon General David
trended nationally on Twitter. Speakers included Olympic hockey Satcher. aspeninstitute.org/sports-society
Participants in the Socrates Wilderness seminar
Laurence Genon
WILD THINGS
On the top of Mount Yeckel, 11,700 feet up in the Colorado counsel from William Cronon, one of the country's leading
wilderness, it was hard for the Socrates Program participants environmental historians, the Socrates Wilderness Seminar
to miss the darkening sky and gathering clouds a few miles in includes texts from Henry David Thoreau, Charles Darwin, Rachel
the distance. The mountains are mercurial, Paul Andersen, Carson, Peter Singer, Emma Maris, and E.O. Wilson. Along
the seminar co-moderator and trip leader, had noted as the 15 with Andersenan author and the founder of Huts for Vets, a
scholars set out on the inaugural Socrates Wilderness, Nature, wilderness-therapy program for veteransGerson and David
and Society seminar. The diminishing sunshine and dropping Monsma, the executive director of the Institutes Energy and
temperature proved Andersen right. As the group gathered on the Environment Program, served as seminar co-moderators. Over the
mountaintop, Stephen Ambroses account of Lewis and Clarks course of three days of hiking, discussing classic and contemporary
journey west, Undaunted Courage, began to find purchase as more texts, and camping, Socrates participants delved into perceptions
than a historical text read earlier that day. The mountain range of the wild and discussed current environmental issues. They
really did stretch west as far as the eye could see, the steep ascent hailed from around the world, from California to Amsterdam, with
Franklin Carrero-Martinez
required the greatest exertion, and despite the approaching backgrounds in government, nonprofits, the private sector, and
snow, there was nothing for it but to proceed. academia. The group comprised backcountry experts and camping
Based on a seminar developed by Elliot Gerson, the Institutes first-timers, each contributing to a meeting of the minds in the
executive vice president for public and policy programs, with wilderness above Aspen. aspeninstitute.org/socrates

Forum speakers Lori Lucas,
Debra Plousha Moore, and
David John
Laurence Genon
ARE YOU BEING SERVED?
Americans have more than $25 trillion in retirement savings. That workers without access to workplace plans; (2) the financial instability
impressive figure masks a troubling reality: 27 percent of near- of those struggling in retirement, who likely struggled during their
retirement households have no retirement savings at all. In April, the working lifea growing segment of the population; (3) the longevity
Financial Security Programs Aspen Leadership Forum on Retirement of workers who have longer lifespans and thus longer retirements; (4)
Savings brought together experts to explore bold solutions to this an evolving social contract that sees the workplace shifting away from
coming crisis. In September, the program released a report that steady hours and stable incomes, with individuals shouldering ever-
identifies five reasons the US retirement system serves some better greater levels of risk; and (5) a lack of political will. Retirement policy is
than others: (1) a coverage gap that leaves roughly 50 percent of complexand complex doesnt always excite politicians. as.pn/rsi
HOW TO SAVE FOR AN EMERGENCY

For decades, those who help low- and moderate-income retirement account. To ensure a constant buffer, the short-term
Americans build wealth have focused on long-term investments: account would be automatically replenished. Because so few tools
home ownership, higher education, and retirement. But those are widely available for short-term saving, many Americans resort
tools are meaningful only if families can first manage their day-to- to raiding their 401(k)s for quick cash. By formalizing the dual
day needs. Too many people struggle to meet expenses, especially role the retirement system currently plays, savers would be able
those triggered by unforeseen events like car repairs and hospital to better distinguish between what is available now and what is
visits, because they have no liquid savings. Thats why the locked away for retirement. The proposal has been well received,
Financial Security Program is exploring a new idea: link a short- and many are now pilot-testing sidecar models. Of course, if
term savings, or sidecar, account to a traditional retirement designed poorly, the sidecar could be yet another complicated
account. Workers would fund a short-term account that could structure in a sea of complex savings plans. But if done right,
be used for emergencies, and, once a sufficient buffer was built the sidecar could improve Americans financial well-being and
up, automatically divert additional contributions to a traditional security. aspenFSP.org

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CITYLAB IN THE CITY OF LIGHTS
Photos: Melanie Leigh Wilbur

Hidalgo and The Atlantic's James Fallows
The Aspen Institute, along with partners Bloomberg refugee populations, autonomous vehicles, urban identity, and
Philanthropies and The Atlantic, hosted the fifth annual CityLab: even loneliness.
Urban Solutions to Global Challenges on October 22 to 24. CityLab kicked off with a special evening session featuring
Each year, the event highlights the innovative urban strategies night czars from Amsterdam and London. Night czars are
and leadership that make cities more effective, responsive, responsible for making their cities nighttime hours more
and inclusive. CityLab has previously been held in New York, culturally and economically vibrant for local businesses, residents,
Los Angeles, London, and Miami. This year, an international and tourists. Participants explored Paris by boat to learn about
group of 37 mayors and more than 500 participants from the citys historic architecture along the Seine, and heard how
over 135 different cities gathered in Paris for the two-day current policies reduce carbon emissions by closing off parts of the
summit. The program emphasized the themes facing todays riverbanks to traffic. Attendees also visited Station F, the worlds
city leaders, such as climate change, terrorism, citizen protests, largest startup campus, housed inside an old freight depot in the
Mayors directly confront
the impact of climate change
and the impact of the refugee
crisis we know today. We
dont have a planet B.
the impact of the refugee crisis we know today in Europe, Paris
Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who chairs the climate leadership group
C40 and who oversaw the creation of the refugee center, said.
She argued that mayors should act for both their cities and the
world. We dont have a planet B, she said.
The Good Chance Theatre co-founders Joe Murphy and Joe
Robertson returned to the CityLab stage this year. Good Chance,
a British nonprofit, built its first theater at a refugee camp in Calais
in the north of France in 2015 as a place for people to express
themselves and to escape or confront the situations they were in.
This year, artist Majid Adin, a refugee who participated in Good
Chance during his time in Calais, joined Murphy and Robertson.
When I came as a refugee, I was just looking for a distribution
center for food and clothes, Adin said. But since taking part in the
Good Chance Theatre, he has won a competition to create a music
video for Elton Johns Rocket Man. Adins work focuses on his
experience leaving his country and starting a new life. Robertson
said that art can be a first step toward refugee integration. It is
really compromise, understanding, empathy, he said of addressing
the refugee plight. It is harder than any of us admit.
Award-winning writers Ta-Nehisi Coates and Chimamanda
Photos: Melanie Leigh Wilbur
Ngozi Adichie shared their perspectives on identity and belonging

in cities. Referring to the diversity seen every day in New York
subways, Coates said: You cant mistake that for real social
integration. Everybody goes home afterwards. We live in separate
communities. Adiche agreed. We have to be careful not to
citys innovation district; the Muse dOrsay for a special evening romanticize cities, she said. Something can be alienating about
reception and private viewing; and Clichy-Batignolles, a more it. It can also feel as though people walk past one another.
than 130-acre eco-district that includes energy-efficient office The Institutes Eric Liu argued that cities are uniquely
buildings, a rooftop urban farm, and affordable green housing. positioned to harness citizen power by organizing and sharing
Attendees were also given exclusive access to the new City of common objectives. A city is not great if it does not make great
Paris Refugee Center, which was built to address the urgent need citizens, Liu said. It was a tone echoed by Greater Manchester
to provide temporary housing for the influx of refugees arriving Authority Mayor Andy Burnham, who reflected on the May
daily. The centerwhich features a medical clinic, cafeteria, and terror attack in his city. We actively said that we will come
French language lessonshas quickly gained international renown together as a community, Burnham said. There has been a sense
for its human-centered approach to the asylum process. of togetherness in defiance.
Mayors directly confront the impact of climate change and aspeninstitute.org/events/citylab-2017
SPACE ODYSSEY
By the time you read this, the Institute will have moved to its new 90,000-square-foot Washington, DC, headquarters at 2300 N
Street NW. After being divided across multiple floors in two buildings for many years, the staff can at last come together. Built by Davis
Construction, the workspace was designed by OTJ Architects in a modernist Bauhaus style evocative of the Aspen Meadows campus in
Colorado. A need to accommodate the Institutes growth and offer a more collaborative work environment drove the decision to move.
The mostly open workspaces will feature a Creative Ideas Lab, a caf, and larger, enhanced event spaces. Our new home symbolizes the
Institutes mission, said outgoing CEO Walter Isaacson, which has always relied on the power of place and the beauty of architecture
to foster conversation and connections.
OTJ Architects
A LEGACY OF GROWTH AND DYNAMISM
The Institute is a touchstone for people around the world. So evolve over the years. Strand remembers Executive Seminar
it is no surprise that many have spent decades contributing participants celebrating at the summit of Ajax Mountain when
their voices to the Institutes Society of Fellows and Heritage they got word of President Richard Nixons resignation in 1974.
Society. In fact, some members of the Institute community He also remembers getting a call 14 years ago from one Walter
have been attending events and engaging in weighty debates Isaacson. I was one of the people Walter called for input on
since the 1960s. The Aspen Institute has been a springboard for whether or not he should take the job as CEO and president of
impact, Juliane Heyman, the first female Peace Corps training the Institute, Strand says. Walter has since become one of my
officer, says. It has been a platform for people who go on to do heroes. He leaves an incredible legacy of growth and dynamism
great thingsand even greater things after their experience at for the Institute. So do all of our friends at the Society of
the Institute. Curt Strand agrees. The former CEO of Hilton Fellows and Heritage Society.
International (now Hilton Worldwide) has watched the Institute aspeninstitute.org/sof | aspeninstitute.org/heritage-society

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THE PEN IS STILL MIGHTIER

This year, Aspen Words presented some of the best writers of contemporary literature at its annual
Winter Words author series and Summer Words writing conference. Authors of fiction, memoir,
and poetry shared their take on literatures role in society, the impact of history on storytelling,
and their best advice for aspiring writers. Below are just a few highlights. aspenwords.org
In the age of not only fake news but fake everything else, we
need literary writing more than ever, because thats the kind of
writing that by definition is trying to depict the human condition
as accurately as possible with all the layers of complexity,
ambiguity, confusion, and uncertainty that go into human
experience.
Ben Fountain, Summer Words 2017 faculty and author of
Billy Lynns Long Halftime Walk
People who put words on the page have to be careful,

because those words have power. Words on the page can
give someone license not only to hate but to carry out the
act of hatred.
Chinelo Okparanta, Summer Words 2017 faculty and author
of Under the Udala Trees
Life fires a storm of emotion at us every day, and we have to

try and organize it in some way. Thats what writers do.
Adam Gopnik, Winter Words 2017 and author of At the Stranger's Gate

For every horrible thing that happens in the book, theres
an equal or worse thing that happened to a real person. You
cant lose sight of that.
Yaa Gyasi, Winter Words 2017 and author of Homegoing
When you go into a bookstore,

you see democracy at work,
because the first rule of being
a great writer is giving voice to
people unlike you.
Azar Nafisi, Winter Words 2017
and author of The Republic of
Imagination
The story wasnt so much as hidden as it was unseen.

I needed the story. Not the history. The story.
Margot Lee Shetterly, Aspen Words Summer Benefit 2017
and author of Hidden Figures
If I only sat down to write when I felt inspired,

Id only have a haiku to my name.
Dani Shapiro, Summer Words 2017 faculty and
author of Hourglass

AS HEARD AT: ERIC L. MOTLEY
Riccardo Savi
Motley
PROMISED LAND
ERIC L. MOTLEYS NEW MEMOIR IS A DISTINCTLY AMERICAN JOURNEY
OF HOPE AND FAITHFROM RECONSTRUCTION TO THE PRESENT.
W
hen Institute Executive Vice President but more importantly, he reveals how the community taught
Eric L. Motley published his new memoir, him everything he needed to know about love, faith, and
Madison Park: A Place of Hope, this year, negotiating the world in front of him. Before Motley earned
the world was introduced to a remarkable his doctorate, before he worked in the Oval Office as a special
town near Montgomery, Alabamaand to assistant to President George W. Bush, and before he became
the remarkable man who was raised there. Madison Park, a a force at the Institute, he was a bookish African American
small community founded by freed slaves in 1880, is a place boy being raised by his grandparents in the Deep South. He
where lessons in self-determination, hope, and an unwavering sat down with Aspen Words Executive Director Adrienne
belief in the American dream are nurtured. Motley, a native Brodeur to talk about this extraordinary book and why it is so
son, reveals his own stories of racial injustice and segregation, resonant at this moment in time.

ADRIENNE BRODEUR: Is there a whose realism was always tempered by ELM: All of us live with a bit of regret
reasonhistorical, political, personal hope. They instilled within me a self- for not always allowing our feelings and
that you decided to write your memoir perpetuating sense of optimism and expressions to be manifested, regret for not
now? hopefulness. So, on the one hand, I was always acting on impulses or inspirations.
seated before a paralyzed man, physically I am often disturbed by the thought that
ERIC L. MOTLEY: Over the years, friends and spiritually, whose entire life narrative there were a good number of people
who have learned of my personal journey had been marred by hatred. On the other who significantly gave of themselves for
have encouraged me to tell my story. hand, how could I not be aware that I my betterment whom I never thanked
I have increasingly been exposed to a was seated in the very same place that he or to whom I never adequately conveyed
number of personal narratives that would barred my parents and grandparents from my gratitude. Some were strangers who
suggest a singular, transcendent American entering? The experience was a lesson flashed in and out of my life, and many
narrative. But there is no single narrative that, while human progress is not always others were neighbors, friends, and
for the African American male, or a citizen immediate, it is redemptive; there is irony teachers, many of whom did not live
of a rural community, or any American for in life, in history. I have come to believe long enough to see their investment in me
that matter. In an increasingly polarized along with Reinhold Niebuhr that nothing realized. I often find myself wondering if
society, where the concept of community is ever understood in its immediate context they had any real sense of my gratitude.
seems almost an alien concept, I now have of history; therefore, we are saved by hope. One must constantly cultivate a sense
the courage and inspiration to tell a story of gratitude; it is born of continuous
about a place, a people, and a community reflection and recognition of ones own
that made my American experience poverty and deep need for others.
possible. In many ways, there is no better
time than now. But I must confess that AB: Can you tell us about your creative
the real inspiration for writing this book process? How long did you work on the
comes from the desire to celebrate an idea, book?
an American spirit, a people, a group of
freed slaves who decided to make America ELM: In many ways, this book has always
work for them and who founded Madison been in the making, inasmuch as I have
Park in 1880 near Montgomery, Alabama. always kept diaries and commonplace
In the process, they developed a moral books. Memory has always been a
communal vocabulary with great power, centering force in my spiritual and
but its story has never been told. There are intellectual development. Recording
two narratives: my own personal narrative observations, experiences, and reflections
and the narrative of this special place, but has always been a part of my daily
Riccardo Savi
they are intimately interwoven. AB: How often do you get back to exercise of learning. But writing this
Madison Park? Do you still think of it as book of course required a level of
AB: As a boy, you came face to face home? concentration and focus that extended
with Governor George Wallace in the beyond my miscellanies. For me, this
Montgomery Public Library. You were ELM: I no longer physically have a was an intellectual, emotional, and
generous in your musings of what he home in Madison Park, but, spiritually spiritual exercise in recollection. Instead
might be thinking: Perhaps he saw in speaking, Madison Park will always of starting off with a publisher or an
me, nameless black boy lost in wonder be my home. The land that my family agent, I decided that I would go the route
at the library, the embodiment of a time farmed is still the place of my childhood of writing, and writing, and rewriting.
that was no more. Maybe he thought of home, many of my childhood friends The end goal was not to produce a book
me as the futures promise. Maybe he was and neighbors continue to live in the that could be sold; the motivation was
pondering poet John Greenleaf Whittiers same houses on the same streets, and my telling my story and the story of my
lines, Of all sad words of tongue or grandparents and ancestors all rest in people without constraint and telling it
pen, the saddest are these: it might have the community cemetery. I return twice to myself first. Also, the very nature of
been. What gave you such an optimistic a year, every autumn and spring. It is a a memoir requires a type of honesty and
outlook on the inner thoughts of the most centering rhythm that I always hope to forthrightness that is not always easily
notorious segregationist in history? maintain. achieved. There were a lot of emotional
and psychological boxes I had long sealed
ELM: I was taught to believe that there AB: We never get all of the thank-yous and put away in the attic of my mind and
is goodness in everyone and that, or goodbyes properly said, which leaves heart. I would put the manuscript in a
whether or not we realize it, the God us, each one, living with a burden of drawer for extended periods, until I was
in each of us yearns to shine outwardly. gratitude. Could you tell us a bit more ready to go where I knew I needed to go
My grandparents were pragmatists about what you meant by this? to reveal a more honest me.

Three-year-old Eric known by
his family as Bugs
Eric and his grandfather pick peaches. Erics Madison Park Head Start class, 1979
MADISON PARK:
M
money changing hands and no one adison Park elders feared
keeping score. You always planted forced integration would
A PLACE OF HOPE a bit more in your vegetable garden destroy their model of
than you needed. community-based education, which
BY ERIC L. MOTLEY But my arrival had a price tag assured that every student was taught
W
that neighborly generosity couldnt by someone who knew his or her
hether you were rich or close. Anticipating the extra expense background, parents, and family
poor, sharing came as of raising a child, Mama and Daddy situation. Given that blacks and whites
naturally as sunrise to the sold the bit of extra land they owned. in the South lived separately, integration
people of Madison Park, Alabama. During my mothers last years in high required transporting students to schools
Youd see tractors, plows, and other school, theyd scaled back the number outside their neighborhoods. While
implements that belonged to one of days and hours they worked. But elsewhere busing might have helped
family parked in someone elses when I came along Daddy took extra achieve greater diversity, Madison
backyard for weeks. Daddys close carpentry jobs, and Mama, a maid Parks citizens had felt insulated from
friend Ray never felt compelled to buy who kept house for white families in the abuse of segregation common
a lawn mower, and Daddy implored the Old Cloverdale neighborhood in beyond their boundaries. Thus, they
him not to, because his yard was so Montgomerya section of beautiful feared that the stability theyd achieved,
small and our mower was available. If homes with carpet-pressed lawns and while not perfect, might be better than
someones roof leaked, half a dozen sculpted hedges where Zelda and F. the unknown. Aunt Shine once told me,
men would descend on the house Scott Fitzgerald once livedstepped No one cared for our poor students
one Saturday and re-roof it, with no up her schedule. like we did.

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George Washington Motley, Erics grandfather (front), and

James Motley, Erics great-uncle, with their young nieces and
nephews
Mamie Motley, Erics grandmother
O
In the preBrown v. Board of logs. Over time, my monthly calendar ne day after cleaning out
Education days, and long before schools expanded to include picking up litter, her parlor, Mrs. Peabody,
offered free breakfast and lunch, picking pecans, peeling pears and the woman my grandmother
the teachers often fed their hungry peaches, weeding vegetable gardens, worked for in Montgomery, asked
students. When boys and girls came watering flower beds, cleaning barns, Mama: Mamie, do yall have a
without winter coats, they bought organizing storage sheds, piling bricks, record player? If you do, take these
them clothes. When kids didnt come and painting garages. I realized even records home to give your little boy
to school, the teachers went out then that my employers could easily something to listen to.
looking for them. They were in and out have done the work themselves, but Mama lugged her ten records
of students homes and ran into them they hired me so I could put cash in home in a wooden vegetable crate,
at church, ball games, and at Mr.June my college fund. some still unopened. It was summer,
Jacksons grocery store. Fearing this I would just as soon have been and I took my time uncrating my
spirit of community would be lost, given the money outright, but Mama present. I examined each record one
they also feared the children would be insisted that I earn my way. She by one until I found two or three
failed by a system based on statistics believed I would feel better about whose covers I really liked. Daddy, as
instead of relationships. But the law myself if the rewards were a product curious as I, brought the record player
was the law. I was bused to a school in of my sweat. Looking back, those out to the back porch and plugged it
Montgomery, 20 minutes away. folks knew exactly what they were in. What are you going to play, son?
When I was just seven, neighbors doingthe back-breaking jobs I he asked, reminding me how much he
began to hire me for odd jobs so I could endured built in me a powerful desire also liked music. I turned the volume
save up to pay for my education. I to find a better way to make a living up as high as it would go, and the
mowed lawns, trimmed shrubs, picked and ratcheted even tighter my resolve three of us waited.
blackberries, and stacked fireplace to get a university education. I didnt know that what I had

Erics last photo with both of his grandparents
INSPIRING SURROUNDINGS
WHILE ELSEWHERE BUSING MIGHT HAVE HELPED EXCEPTIONAL MEETINGS
ACHIEVE GREATER DIVERSITY, MADISON PARKS An ideal retreat setting with
CITIZENS HAD FELT INSULATED FROM THE ABUSE more than 1,000 acres on
Marylands Eastern Shore.
OF SEGREGATION BEYOND THEIR BOUNDARIES.
Privacy abounds on the
grounds of two estates with
decided to play would forever back, turn curves, and climb so high? I state-of-the-art conference
change my life. Out came the most played that record at full volume every facilities, 51 distinctive
transcendent and wondrously strange day for the whole summer, and no one accommodations, farm-to-table
sound. It was the voice of the soprano complained. cuisine, striking water views
Jessye Norman singing Richard Eventually, I played all of and notable amenities.
Strausss Four Last Songs. Mrs. Peabodys records, but the
Id never heard such a voiceit Norman album touched me most. It
enveloped me. The dogs and chickens wasnt until years later that I learned
seemed to hush, and the clanking that she was black, grew up in Augusta,
of tractors plowing faded into the Georgia, and got her start singing in
background. Even my normally the church choir. After many years
voluble grandmother said nothing. The of listening to that album, I truly
look on my face must have stopped appreciate what enormous range she
her. I was transfixed. Normans voice possessed, what impeccable control
was so refreshingly different and new and phrasing she exercised in her
to our surroundings that in minutes singing. But sitting on the back porch
Bimp, Boo-Boo, and Rod raced across with my grandparents, I never could
the yard, landing with a thump on the have imagined that one day Id receive
porch. What you listening to, Bugs? an invitation to dine with Ms.Norman FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT
What is it? in Aspen, Colorado, and tell her the
WYERIVERCONFERENCECENTER.COM
They werent ridiculing me or story of how I came to love opera.
OR CALL 410.827.7400
scoffing at the music but expressing
wonder. How could the human voice Copyright 2017 by Eric L. Motley. Used
create such a sound? How could it sway by permission.

AS HEARD AT: MARTIN BARON
Kris Tripplaar
Baron
SHINING A LIGHT IN
DARK CORNERS
THE WASHINGTON POST S EXECUTIVE EDITOR MARTIN BARON TALKS
ABOUT JOURNALISMS FOUNDATIONAL ROLE IN A DEMOCRACY.
I
n September, the Institute, in partnership with The Atlantic, Adam Neumann, author Tim OBrien, General (ret.) David
held the annual Washington Ideas Forum in the heart of Petraeus, the National Portrait Gallerys Kim Sajet, artist Sheldon
the nations capital. The event gathered leaders in politics, Scott, and the Broad Institutes Feng Zhang all tackled the most
business, health, science, technology, arts, culture, and consequential issues facing the country and the world. Below,
journalism for three days of cant-miss conversation. In Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, sat down
the center of US political power, leaders like Treasury Secretary with Martin Baron, the executive editor of The Washington Post, at
Steven Mnuchin, Senator Chris Coons, Senator Jeff Flake, Sidney Harman Hall to discuss journalism in the age of Donald
VotoLatinos Maria Teresa Kumar, Chef Tim Ma, WeWorks Trump. washingtonideas.com

JEFFREY GOLDBERG: I want to start MB: We have not rushed to use the MB: Theres no question that we have
maybe in an obvious place: truth and word lie in headlines or in stories, experienced the Trump bump.
lies. What does it mean when a president because I think you have to actually People want to support us because
of United States labels the media the have documented proof that whoever they want their government to be
enemy of the people? youre saying lied actually knew that held accountable, particularly this
what he or she was saying was in fact administration. But theres more to
MARTIN BARON: There could be false. So we havent used that. Weve it than that. Over the course of this
long-term consequences that have a used falsehood. Weve said untrue. election, and certainly this presidency,
corrosive effect on the institution of Now, there may come a point where we people have stopped taking the press for
the media and the press in this country. would use that word, lie, because it granted in a way that they did before.
Im very concerned about that. Donald becomes evident that the president does People took the press for granted in this
Trump initially condemned us, and know that what hes saying is not true. I country for decades, and now theyve
then tried to delegitimize us, and then think were getting to that point. come to realize that were actually
even dehumanized us, saying that we fundamental to a democracy, to the
were the lowest form of humanity. JG: You recently put on the banner of health of a democracy, and that if they
And then when that wasnt enough, The Washington Post, Democracy Dies want quality journalism, theyre going
he said we were the lowest form of in Darkness, as the motto of the paper. to have to support quality journalism by
life itself. Its very corrosive. The press Does that term risk making you part of paying for it.
is a fundamental institution in this the resistance?
country. Were provided for in the JG: How do you convince people who
First Amendment of the Constitution. WERE NOT AT WAR. believe that youre presenting fake
Theres a reason that the Founders did facts that, No, we have subjected our stories
that. The purpose is to hold government WERE AT WORK. WERE to a process of proving that this is empirically
accountable. true. How do you convince people
DOING THE JOB THATS and this goes to a larger question
JG: Is this period of hostility between PROVIDED FOR IN THE about the divisions in Americathat,
the executive and the press truly however imperfectly, were actually
unprecedented? Youre the editor of the FIRST AMENDMENT OF trying to get at an observable fact?
newspaper that broke and reported on THE CONSTITUTION.
Watergate. Can you put this in historical MB: When we have stories that
context? confirm peoples preexisting points
MB: No. And we dont view ourselves of view, they like those stories. They
Kris Tripplaar
MB: Watergate is probably the best as part of the resistance. The day after share those stories. Even the president
analogue to whats happening today. the inauguration, the president went to has shared our stories on Twitter
Richard Nixon was very hostile CIA headquarters and he said that he when he happens to like the story,
toward the press, so we were under was at war with the media. Well, were and then in the next tweet he says
constant attack. The presss standing not at war. Were at work. Were doing were fake news. So theres an internal
with the American public was very the job thats provided for in the First inconsistency there.
low at that time. People perceived the Amendment of the Constitution. That Look, quality is really important.
investigation of the president, and the phrase, Democracy Dies in Darkness, I participate in every hiring decision,
whole Watergate investigation, as being is something that our owner, Jeff Bezos, because I think every person we hire
highly politically motivated. And then, wanted to do well before Trump was can make a huge difference for the
ultimately, Nixon had to resign, and the elected president. He wanted to capture betteror for the worse. One reporter
standing of the press actually went up our mission and synthesize it in a few can make a huge difference in our
after that. Our approval ratings reached words. And our mission is to shine light success, but they could also cause us
probably the highest point in memory. in dark corners, to hold government a huge problem. One copy editor can
They were probably as high as theyre accountable. catch a serious mistake and prevent a
ever going to get. They were in the mid- disaster for us. So we try to be rigorous
50s. Were always going to have people JG: Let me ask you about the upside of in the hiring process to make the right
upset with us. the Trump era vis--vis the press. Your decisions. Its also important that we
newspaper just crossed a line: a million hire good editors to make sure they
JG: Theres a disagreement among digital subscribers. The press seems to act as a quality-control mechanism
several editors about the use of the be benefiting from this fight, which the in our news organization and that we
word lie to describe things that the president initiated but which also seems emphasize editing as much as we do
president has said. to be helping our business. reporting as we continue to grow.

AS HEARD AT: RICHARD REEVES
Reeves
Laurence Genon
THE GLASS FLOOR
ECONOMIST RICHARD REEVES EXPLAINS HOW THE TOP 20 PERCENT
ARE HOARDING THE AMERICAN DREAM.
I
s it still possible for low- and moderate-income workers MAUREEN CONWAY: What did your research show you about
and their families to achieve the economic stability class divides in the United States?
necessary to pursue the American Dream? Brookings
Institution Fellow Richard Reeves recently joined RICHARD REEVES: Class is a malleable concept. Its not just
Maureen Conway, the Institutes vice president for policy about economicsits about education, its about family, its
programs and the executive director of the Institutes Economic about all kinds of things. But focusing on income for a moment,
Opportunities Program, to discuss his new book, Dream Hoarders: in the United States, most people define themselves as middle
How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the class, which makes this a harder concept to grasp. Thats why I
Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do About It. As part of define upper-middle class as the top 20 percent. Income looks
the Economic Opportunities Programs Working in America broadly similar today for the bottom 80 percent as it did 30 or
event series, Reeves argued that the gap between the upper- 40 years ago. In contrast, from 1980 onward, the income of the
middle class and the rest of American society is widening top 20 percent pulled awayperhaps not as much as the top 1
because advantages are concentrated among the upper percent, but the line between the people who have been doing
classes. For more information and to watch the full video, visit progressively better is much broader than the 1 percent.
as.pn/dreamhoarders.

MC: The moral underpinnings of the of measures to limit the number of admissions, school zoning laws, and
book are really an argument about Jewish students. These types of policies other systemic advantages have insulated
fairness, but weve never really had a have contributed to making the upper- the children of the top 20 percent,
level playing field in our economy middle class overwhelmingly white today. subsequently contributing to increased
particularly when we think about race. inequality.
MC: Many in the top 20 percent profess For a healthier society, well have to
RR: Although I have examined race as it to be in favor of encouraging upward see movement in both directions. From
relates to economic mobility in the past, mobility among low- and moderate- a relative perspective, more absolute
I focused this book almost exclusively income workers. However, when you economic mobility would lead to more
on class. We need to find a better way point out that if more people work their people doing well overall. Generally,
to have a conversation about both class way to the top, then some people will that would lower the stakes around
and race and the ways that they overlap. have to move down, the idea of mobility falling to another tier because, even
Some of the institutions perpetuating often becomes less appealing. if you fall, the gap between income
class inequality have their roots in racist brackets would be smaller. Moving
policies. Exclusionary housing and RR: In America today, money impacts down a quintile in the earnings bracket
zoning policies have had a massive and access to health care and education and would not be as catastrophic, and it
lasting impact on racial wealth disparities, so on. The cost of having less money would leave more room for others to
for example. Legacy preferences, which is therefore high, leading many in the move up. Some downward mobility is
I cite as an example of how the upper upper-middle class to fear the fall. This necessary for upward mobility. Right
class perpetuates its privilege, nonetheless fear has incentivized them to put a glass now, the upper-middle classs glass
have their basis in bias. The Ivy Leagues floor underneath their children. Unpaid floor is creating a glass ceiling for
introduced legacy preferences as a series internships, legacy preferences in college everyone else.
Laurence Genon
PROUDLY BUILDING
WITH THE INSTITUTE
FOR MORE THAN
20 YEARS
LEFT: Acclaimed British sculptor

Andy Goldsworthy carving Stone River
into sandstone slab in 2006.
ABOVE: Doerr-Hosier Centers

www.shawconstruction.net Stone River complete.

IMPACT: NEW VOICES
Courtesy Elsa DSilva

Safecity mural on a Delhi wall
BOLD NEW VOICES

IN THE INSTITUTES NEW VOICES FELLOWSHIP, FELLOWS FROM AFRICA AND
OTHER PARTS OF THE DEVELOPING WORLD GET TRAINING AND SUPPORT TO
HELP THEM SHARPEN THEIR MESSAGES, TELL THEIR STORIES, AND PROVIDE
CRUCIAL GRASSROOTS PERSPECTIVES TO A WORLDWIDE AUDIENCE.
newvoicesfellows.aspeninstitute.org

DSilva receives a Vital Voices award.
CHOOSING TO ACT BY ELSA DSILVA

There are moments in your life when you have to make a workshops and meetings. The data highlight trends that are used
choice. For me, hearing about the horrific gang rape of a young to mobilize communities to rally around the issue.
woman on a bus in Delhi, India, was one of those moments. It Since we began, more than four years ago, we have collected
pushed me to launch Safecity, a crowd map of sexual violence over 10,000 personal stories from all parts of India, Kenya,
in public spaces. Nepal, and Cameroon. We have used the information to engage
At the time, I was working for one of Indias leading airlines with more than 400,000 people, municipal authorities, and
as vice president of network planning. While the work was police in Delhi, Mumbai, and Goa as well as transportation
challenging, I was looking for my purpose in the world. The authorities in India and Nepal.
incident in Delhi caused me to think about relevant incidents in Being an Aspen New Voices fellow helped me crystallize my
my life, and I began to talk to other women about similar ones vision and use my voice to amplify this vital issue. I have written
in their lives. I was so moved by what I heard that I decided to over 100 op-eds, blog posts, and articles for international and
quit my job and use my skills to end violence against women national news outlets on a range of issues affecting womens
and girls. rights. I have presented at the technical meeting for the UN
Although I had no experience working on womens rights and Womens initiative Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces, UN
no background in the development sector, I took the plunge and Habitat 3, the Aspen Ideas Festival, CityLab London, and
co-founded Safecity in December 2012. The aim is to encourage TEDx. I have far more requests to speak and write than I can
people through crowdsourcing to anonymously share their stories keep up with.
of sexual violence in public spaces. The stories we receive range The fellowship has taught me that I have a responsibility
from leering and verbal harassment to stalking and other physical to use every opportunity to further my cause. After all, having
harassment. We collate and aggregate the stories as location- equal access to safe public spaces is critical to a girls receiving an
based trends, or hot spots, on an online map. We use the online education and to a womans taking up employment, advancing
data that women and girls share to identify factors that may lead in her career, and achieving financial independence.
to sexual violence and to help us think through strategies to find
solutions. We partner with other NGOs, citizen organizations, Aspen New Voices fellow Elsa DSilva is the founder and CEO of
and student groups that work in local communities to create the Red Dot Foundation (Safecity), a platform that documents sexual
awareness and collect information on sexual violence through harassment and abuse in public spaces.
IMPACT: NEW VOICES
A LIFE-CHANGING FELLOWSHIP BY REGINA AGYARE

Our mentees have gone on
to do amazing things. Some
have started foundations or tech
companies, and some received full
scholarships to study computer
science at university. Others were
given the opportunity to intern at
software companies. These are all
girls who came to us with little or
no knowledge of computers.
When I got my first international
exposure by being profiled on the
CNN program African Start-Up,
I was prepared to establish my
global presence to raise awareness
of my work. I was then featured
on BBC, Al Jazeera, DW-TV, and
Chris Paul
local TV and radio stations. I have
Leticia Amavih
been asked to speak in over 15
Soronko participants in Accra, Ghana countries. With this new visibility,
I have received so much support.
A single donor gave 45 laptops to
I had just quit my job at a bank in Ghana to begin a social the Tech Needs Girls Project after reading an article about us.
enterprise teaching science, technology, engineering, and Another donated a vehicle that helped us expand into other
mathematics skills to children in rural communities. I started regions in Ghana. And we are still looking forward. We have
with a lot of passion, but I didnt know how to communicate my started Soronko Academy, the first coding and human-centered
work. Through teaching, I became even more convinced that design school in West Africa. Now, we have introduced coding
what the African continent needed to transform itself was a new as part of the curriculum in a school in Ghanathe first time it
generation of innovators and critical thinkers. With my visits has been taught systematically here. We plan to scale this to all
to rural areas, I saw that many young girls were not allowed public schools in Ghana to change the way STEM is taught and
to reach their full potential. Most girls had been taught that to develop Africas future innovators.
science and technology were too difficult, and not for them.
I remember the sexism and discrimination I personally faced Aspen New Voices fellow Regina Agyare is the CEO of Soronko Solutions.
as a female in a male-dominated field. I wanted to change that
for the next generation of womento bridge the gender gap
in technology. New technologies were sorely missing a female
perspective. In 2013, the same year I became an Aspen New
Voices fellow, I started the Tech Needs Girls Project.
Through the fellowship, I learned how powerful my voice
could be if used effectively: how to communicate my mission
statement, the elevator pitch, body language during an
interview, which communication channels are most effective.
After our initial meeting, I was even more determined to change
the single dominant narrative of Africa. I went home with a
renewed passionand started a movement. I was able to bring
together community leaders and volunteers to help young girls
use technology to reach their full potential and break the cycle
of poverty. I have now trained more than 3,500 girls in eight
regions in Ghana and expanded our impact to Burkina Faso.
With the help of the fellowship trainings, I started to write
articles and op-eds, and I became the face for the women and
In Ghana, girls are learning STEM skills.
girls in technology in my country.

Chris Paul
Leticia Amavih
Raghu with farmers discussing agricultural policy
NEW BOLD INNER VOICE BY SATHYA RAGHU

FEBRUARY 2016 DECEMBER 2016
This is the first time I have left the Indian subcontinent, and Writing was never fun for me. But on the last day of the
I am in Johannesburg, South Africa, for my first Aspen New fellowship, as I am lassoing my thoughts with the rope called
Voices seminar. I find myself in a room with other fellows op-ed format, another fellow, Carl Manlan, says: Sathya,
from almost 15 countriesscientists, doctors, development just express yourself by ignoring the format. Write about
experts, policymakersthe list is unending. They are so what you see and what moves you. Then see which tweaks
accomplished that I feel like an impostor in this fellowship. can cover the elements of a good op-ed. That changes the
But Aspen Institute Vice President Peggy Clark started way I looked at writing. Over the next ten months, I write
off the proceedings by giving us all an equal mission. Do more than ten pieces for different Indian and international
development differently. Make ideas reach the light. Enable outlets. Carl cares for me and my work, even today.
creative dialogue. Amplify new voices as changemakers. The What changed? First, collaborators began to take
four points sound very noble to me, but I have no clue how to our work more seriously as the op-eds started lending
bring them to life. We debate about whether we are experts credibility to both me and my organization. Indias second-
in our respective fields. We conclude that we are experts largest bank agreed to partner with us to roll out a unique
but not the only experts. financing model. One of the largest greenhouse fabricators
in the country considers our organization to be an
adviser, not just a customer. The Society for Elevation of
APRIL 2016 Rural Poverty, a joint venture between the World Bank and
For the first time, I see the power of my amplified voice at
the government of Andhra Pradesh, reached out to us to
the agriculture department of the government of Telangana,
make sure our technology reaches millions of farmers in the
where I explain to the minster of agriculture that the policy on
state.
climate-smart agriculture that the state currently adopts needs
I know that this is just a beginning for many more
to change. The policy costs the government almost 13 billion
things to come. I represent 100 million small farmers who are
rupees each year, but barely benefits even 200 farmers. Earlier
largely unrepresented in the agricultural policymaking process
in the morning, I questioned myself: should I really say this to
in my country. I resolve more than ever that my voice will
government officials? My new, bolder inner voice told me, I
be heard.
am an expert. We have to do development differently. I should
voice the need for change. I am pleasantly surprised that the
government takes my advice seriously. The current policy is
Aspen New Voices fellow Sathya Raghu is the co-founder of Kheyti &
later withdrawn, and new policy is introducedpolicy that
Cosmos Green.
can benefit 20 times more farmers.
IMPACT: FINANCIAL SECURITY
Participant at a Finance
Forward event in St. Louis

LOOKING DEEP
TO DISCOVER THE CAUSES OF, AND SOLUTIONS TO, INCOME VOLATILITY
BY KATIE BRYAN | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JENNIFER KORMAN
W
e need to be talking about issues like income original consumer research, surveyed experts, and gathered
volatility now more than ever, Tishaura O. dozens of leaders to exchange views and come up with solutions.
Jones, the treasurer of the city of St. Louis, We knew that income volatility and economic shocks
says. Too many people feel trapped by a contribute to food insecurity, says Erica Greeley, the vice
system that punishes them for being poor president of programs at Feeding America, an organization that
and unbanked or under-banked. We as a community can and addresses hunger through a nationwide network of member
need to have conversations about issues like income volatility food banks. But as Feeding America develops strategies
if we want St. Louis to be a great place to live and raise a to strengthen pathways out of hunger for working families,
family. Shes right: more and more low- and middle-income EPICs work has informed our decision to focus not only on a
American households are experiencing households net income but also on the
high levels of financial uncertainty and destabilizing implications of volatility.
income volatility. Of course, connecting the dots between
So what does that mean? Well, hunger and the core financial-security
for many families, it means coping issues that lead to it can be overwhelming.
with significant income swings: four Thats why EPIC developed Finance
in ten households say their earnings Forward, a multicity event series that
fluctuate 30 percent per month on brings together local governments,
average. That kind of unpredictability businesses, community advocates,
makes planning for the future nearly and nonprofit leaders to come up
impossible. At the same time, 60 with innovative solutions to income
percent of households experienced a volatility. So far, Finance Forward
financial shock within the past year has held events in Columbia, South
and whether its a housing emergency, Carolina; East Lansing, Michigan; and
health care crisis, or job crunch, for St. Louis, Missouri. Jones, the St. Louis
families that dont have nest eggs, its St. Louis attendee city treasurer, was already working to
a disaster. Whats more, the volatility improve the financial resiliency of her
of month-to-month expenses is even citys residents when she learned about
more widespread than income volatility. All of which makes it EPICs initiatives. She had pioneered a program to encourage
untenable for millions of American households to make ends young people to start saving early, but she also understood that
meet, plan for the future, or save money. she needed new insights for her community. So she partnered
The sheer scale of this financial challenge prompted EPIC, with EPIC and brought Finance Forward to St. Louis. Now,
the Financial Security Programs Expanding Prosperity Impact Jones says, the city is engaging a different group of leaders to talk
Collaborative, to take on income volatility for its first deep about financial security and spending more time considering
investigation. Over the past two years, EPIC has conducted the role government plays in financial empowerment.

IMPACT: FINANCIAL SECURITY
Debbie Johnson, the director of communications for the
St. Louis Treasurers Office, was surprised at some of the
information she learned at Finance Forward, like how members
of every income level are affected by volatility and not just
the poor and working classes. Theres an opportunity for us
to change the conversation in St. Louis around the topics of
financial empowerment and income volatility, Johnson says.
Income volatility affects everyone, whether you personally deal
with it or not. Johnson left the Finance Forward event ready
to reshape the messaging that her office uses when discussing
income volatility with city residents. Her new message?
Everyone benefits from a strong city.
Im very encouraged that so many high-profile people from
different industries and walks of life could come together to work
on a common goal and find solutions, says Pier Alsup, the chief
officer in charge of community engagement and social responsibility
for the Anheuser-Busch Credit Union in St. Louis. Alsup is now
creating a financial-wellness program for the employees of her
organization that is directly inspired by Joness program to help
students start saving at a young age. Alsup is hoping to put that
model in place for her employees and their families so that they are
prepared for the unexpected. We are taking a holistic approach
to employee well-being, she says. Following the diagnosis phase,
we will develop products, services, and tools that can help meet the
communitys needs and make them more resilient.
EPIC is not only developing a solid network of leaders who
are finding, sharing, and implementing solutions; it is forming
Jones
partnerships that will continue to research and examine income
volatility. For example, by collaborating with the JPMorgan
Chase Institute, EPIC leaders gained a deeper understanding of the experience of living with income volatility, and those
leaders in turn helped the JPMorgan Chase Institute develop
new research initiatives. Working with Aspen taught me how
far-reaching the possible sources of and solutions to income
volatility really areand in particular the links between income
volatility and the changing nature of work, says Fiona Greig, the
director of consumer research for the JPMorgan Chase Institute.
It also made me realize that we were missing half of the picture:
what was going on with expenses? This inspired us to delve deep
into expense volatility and tell a more integrated story about the
relationship between income and expenses in our report Coping
with Costs: Big Data on Expense Volatility and Medical Payments.
These are just a few examples of how raising awareness
of a critical financial-security challenge can lead to real
commitments to problem-solving and real action on the ground.
These leaders are paving the way to less volatile and more
resilient family finances; they are also ensuring that families
have greater stability and security in other areas of their lives.
Economic volatility is about more than just teaching someone
how to budget or how to establish more predictable work hours.
Living with persistent income swings impedes progress toward
a communitys ultimate goal of shared prosperitywhere all
households have long-term financial security.
Learn more at aspeninstitute.org/programs/epic.
Katie Bryan is the communications manager of the Financial

Finance Forward attendee
Security Program.

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1 2
THE M c NULTY
EFFECT 6
11 12
(1) Nutrivida (2) Hope Credit Union (3) TRAIL

(4) Mandakini Women Weavers (5) CenteringPregnancy
South Carolina (6) Ashesi University (7) B Lab
(8) iSimangaliso Rural Enterprise Accelerator Program
(9) Glasswing (10) Aspire India (11) Global Genes
(12) Esperanza. Right page (circles): Lana Abu-Hijleh,
Carolina Freire, Bruce Robertson, Amjad Tadros

3 4 5
7 8
9 10
Since 2008, the John P. McNulty Prize has celebrated and elevated the work of individuals who are
using their exceptional leadership abilities, entrepreneurial spirit, and private-sector talents to change
the world, a movement being led by the Aspen Global Leadership Network. Each year, at the Resnick
Aspen Action Forum and the Institutes Annual Gala in New York, the McNulty Prize honors individuals
who are addressing the planets foremost social, economic, and environmental challenges.
THE JOHN P. McNULTY PRIZE HAS BUILT A GLOBAL MOVEMENT OF

ENTREPRENEURIAL, TRANSFORMATIVE LEADERS.
BY JOHNNY M c NULTY AND NINA SAWHNEY

THE M c NULTY EFFECT
Voluntarios de Panama Brett Jenks, founder of Fish Forever
These are human stories of struggle and determination and ultimately success,
as much as they are studies in what leadership demands in the social space.
Anne Welsh McNulty
The prize, founded by Anne Welsh McNulty in honor from private-sector and nonprofit careers to find innovative
of her late husband, is a primary initiative of the McNulty solutions to everything from pollution to poverty, politics to
Foundation awarded in partnership with the Institutes food security, and education to finance. Always, however, the
Aspen Global Leadership Network. Prize nominees are all solution emerges from the very people they seek to help.
AGLN fellows with exceptional leadership venturesthe When the first prizewinner, Jordan Kassalow, realized that
projects fellows embark on to tackle the societal problems charity was not enough to deliver eyeglasses to those who need
they see around them. The winner receives $100,000 to it, he helped develop a business-in-a-bag model that allowed
further his or her venture, and each of the other laureates women in rural areas of Bangladesh to become one-person
receives $25,000. The winner is selected by a jury of world- eyeglass shopsable to evaluate most basic kinds of vision
recognized leaders: currently, they are former Secretary impairment and prescribe the correct glasses. Not only did this
of State Madeleine Albright, Ford Foundation President create thousands of entrepreneurs who could make a profit and
Darren Walker, international statesman Olara Otunnu, and increase the distribution of badly needed eyewear, the people
development expert Brizio Biondi-Morra. Previous juries who bought them were often middle-aged artisans who gained
have included former President of Ireland Mary Robinson, another 20 years of productive income because they now had
Bill Gates Sr., and entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson. the sight to work. The ripple effect is potent: both the new
Since the establishment of the prize, the McNulty income from women selling glasses and the avoided burden of
Foundation has recognized more than 40 laureates for their losing work in their 40s means that artisans children can stay
high-impact ventures addressing many of the worlds most in school, investments can be made to start new businesses, and
intractable problems. The laureates use their experience the cycle of poverty has a chance of ending.

Fish Forever
This virtuous cycle of opportunity and empowerment

is a hallmark of all the laureates. NEXT, the name of an
independent newspaper and journalistic enterprise, produced
fearless investigative journalism to help Nigerians hold
their government accountable. CenteringPregnancy South
Carolina empowers women to make better-informed health
choices and reduce their odds of preterm birthin turn,
giving their children a lifetime of improved opportunities.
Youth Local Councils gives young Palestinians, and now
young people around the world, the chance to get involved in
their municipalities and learn self-governance firsthand.
This ethos is grounded in the values of the prizes
Anne Welsh McNulty
namesake, John P. McNulty. The child of Irish immigrants,
McNulty saw firsthand the difference that education and
THE NEXT DECADE opportunity made in his life compared with his parents. He
also realized that the opportunities he received were still
Since 2008, the McNulty Foundation has recognized more
distributed unequallyan injustice that robbed so many
than 40 laureates working in over 25 countries and has
people of their potential simply by the lottery of birth,
invested over $4 million in their ventures, supporting work that whether through prejudice, poverty, environment, violence,
has touched millions of lives. Inspired by the work of the very or any other barrier. The McNulty Foundation and the
leaders it has recognized, the Foundation started the McNulty leaders it seeks to recognize and inspire through the prize
Prize Catalyst Fund. This new philanthropic fund will provide aim to remedy these imbalances, to pass on the spark of
direct support to organizations both in the United States and opportunity, and to ignite the potential of all people.
abroad enabling them to broaden the reach of their work, to
deepen their impact at existing sites, or enable them to serve Johnny McNulty is the director of communications and Nina Sawhney
larger numbers of beneficiaries. To learn more, please visit is the program manager at the John P. & Anne Welsh McNulty
mcnultyprize.org. Foundation.

THE M c NULTY EFFECT
We have positively
influenced thousands
of young people who
now know they are
relevant. They are
respected, they have
gained skills, and
they can be whatever
they want to be.
Lana Abu-Hijleh
Abu-Hijleh
HOW YOUNG PALESTINIANS HAVE BECOME

A GLOBAL MODEL FOR DEMOCRACY
Lana Abu-Hijleh is the 2017 winner of the John P. McNulty Prize and a Middle East Leadership Initiative Fellow of the
AGLN. She is being honored for founding the Youth Local Councils, created in Palestine and now replicated abroad.
After working with the United Nations and major nongovernmental Now, in over 45 communities across the West Bank,
organizations in development for years, Lana Abu-Hijleh saw the more than 25,000 youth participate in the programand
need for a grassroots movement from Palestines youth, who 92 percent of them say that the YLC has improved their
make up more than half of the regions population. So in 2008 understanding of democracy. As Palestines youth come of
she founded the Youth Local Councils to let young Palestinians age, YLC alums are taking up formal leadership positions, both
take ownership ofand gain experience inself-government. in civil society and as elected city councilmembers, deputy
These voluntary electoral bodies mirror the positions and mayors, and more.
structure of local municipal councils, and anyone aged 15 to Their example has also attracted noticed abroad: the YLC
22 can vote or run for two-year terms. Participating youth model has been replicated in Honduras and will soon spread
receive hundreds of hours of training and take on real projects to Ukraine. Anywhere young people need to be engaged and
in their communities, ranging from making municipal buildings where faith in self-government needs to be shored up, the
accessible to people with disabilities, to building parks for YLC model can be adapted to show people of all ages and
families and communities, to launching collaborative political nationalities that democracy and self-government are still
campaigns that influence national policy. the best ways to build a better future.

Freire CAROLINA FREIRE
THE 2017 McNULT Y PRIZE L AUREATES
VOLUNTARIOS DE PANAMA | Panama
Uniting a broad network of private, public, and nonprofit

participants, public-policy specialist Carolina Freire is shifting
Panamas national culture around civic engagement. By
spearheading Panamas first-ever national volunteer platform,
Freire is propelling citizens to address challenges in their own
communities. Already, more projects are being undertaken than
ever before, and Panamanians are bridging divides to form a
common identity.
Robertson
BRUCE ROBERTSON
TRAIL | Uganda
Following the devastation of Northern Uganda by the Lords

Resistance Army, agriculture executive Bruce Robertson is
rebuilding the regions economy and the livelihoods of small-
holder farmers through agronomy training, financial literacy, and
access to markets and capital. By doing what nonprofits could
notguaranteeing a market for cropsTRAIL has proved itself
to be a dynamic engine of growth for northern Uganda as a whole.
Tadros AMJAD TADROS

SYRIA DIRECT | Jordan and Syria
Training new generations of Syrian reporters, entrepreneur and

award-winning journalist Amjad Tadros is ensuring that Syrian
perspectives are heard and that the world has access to objective,
truthful, in-depth reporting from Syria. Syria Direct is often not
only the best but the only organization covering many of the
important stories coming out of the region. Its graduates are laying
the groundwork for a new era of journalism in Syria and across the
Middle East.
The annual John P. McNulty Prize recognizes the spirit of entrepreneurship and excellence in fellows of the Aspen Global
Leadership Network who have turned thought into action. The winner is selected by a jurychaired by former Secretary of State
and Institute Trustee Madeleine Albrightand is awarded $100,000. Each laureate receives $25,000.
Learn more: mcnultyprize.org | @McNultyPrize | agln.aspeninstitute.org | @AspenAGLN

I
deas are the lifeblood of the Aspen Instituteideas We focus on how to get young people involved in
that challenge previously held worldviews, solve effective discourse across disciplineseverything from
problems, and build community to create the Good the urban-rural divide to racial or religious divides,
Society. But who will lead the charge to generate Raj Vinnakota, the executive vice president of Youth
breakthrough ideas in the years to come? & Engagement Programs, says. How do we get young
Thats where Youth & Engagement Programs, the people to reach across divides, work together, and
newest division of the Institute, comes in. Youth & understand each other?
Engagement puts a strategic focus on the next generation When Y&E was established, it brought existing
by operating a variety of programs that work directly programs like Aspen Challenge under its umbrellaand
with young people ages 14 to 24 in urban and rural the team has been busy looking at opportunities to create
communities nationwide. The goal is to develop young new initiatives, too. Y&E now runs programs like the
leaders, promote effective civil discourse, activate youth Aspen Young Leaders Fellowship, a project to develop the
voices and agency through civic engagement, and increase next generation of leaders who want to solve problems
youth access to social capital. in their own communities, and the Youth Commission
The new Youth & Engagement Programs division is training young leaders to make
Riccardo Savi
change across the countryand across the Institute. BY ALISON DECKER

Young Adult Forum at the Aspen Ideas Festival
Riccardo Savi

Aspen Young Leaders
Aspen Challenge at the Aspen Ideas Festival Fellowship
This new focus on youth is critical: in order for the

Institute to maintain its long-term relevance, it
needs to work with younger and more diverse people.
on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development, which pockets of America, too. The Aspen Young Leaders Fellowship
engages educators, families, researchers, and policymakers to currently has programs in Newark, New Jersey, and St. Louis,
fully integrate social and emotional learning into the nations Missouri, and it will launch a third site in the Arkansas and
schools. This new focus on youth is critical: in order for the Mississippi deltas next spring. These are urban and rural areas
Institute to maintain its long-term relevance, it needs to work where the Institute has not traditionally had a footprint. Aspen
more directly with younger and more diverse people. Challenge, a program that asks students to design solutions
After visiting Ferguson, Missouri, with the Communications to problems in their own neighborhoods, launches in new
and Society Program in the wake of the civic unrest following cities every year: so far, it has reached students in Los Angeles,
the shooting of Michael Brown by a white police officer, Denver, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Washington, DC. The
Walter Isaacson was inspired by the youth activism and voices program will launch in Dallas in 2018.
he heard. He decided with the Institutes Communications Young people have great ideas, Jackie Shiff, the Youth
and Society Program to create a new division to empower & Engagement director of strategic partnerships, says. The
young, thoughtful, socially conscious leaders. Diversity of age, students from Wendell Phillips Academy, the 2017 winner of
geography, race, and socioeconomics was a priority. the Aspen Challenge Chicago, created a real, scalable solution
We provide opportunities for the people who arent so to help repair what is arguably the most pressing issue in
obviouspeople who have been forgotten or underestimated, Chicago: improving police-community relations. Through
Dan Bayer, Rock Creek Productions
Tre Maxie, the division director of Youth & Engagement Y&E, the Institute dares young people to be bold and to be
Programs, says. We look for young people who are willing to real agents of change in their communities and beyond.
grow and try new things, who have some type of concern or Youth & Engagements rapid expansion since 2015 is
interest in the community. Someone seeking something larger setting the stage for years of future impact. Embedded in
than his or her current circumstance. everything we do, in our very operating culture, is piloting and
Youth & Engagement Programs arent just reaching measurement of impact before scaling, John P. Dugan, the
younger audiences for the Institutetheyre reaching new Youth & Engagement director of program quality, design, and

BEING THE CHANGE
A FELLOW DISCOVERS THE REAL MEANING OF LEADERSHIP.
BY ELYSE BONNER
I had no idea what the Aspen Young Leaders Fellowship was when I
first applied. One of my teachers recommended it to me. It was really
intimidating at first! Everyone is so intelligent. I was talking with a lot of
smart people doing big things in St. Louis. Luckily, they paired us with a
lot of like-minded people, and it was inspiring to find that I was just as
intelligent as everyone else in the room.
Ive learned that being a leader isnt just about yourself. Its about the
community youre trying to change. Right now, my fellowship group is
focused on being flexible as leaders. In the last session, we talked about
Lego bricks and how we can pair them in so many different ways to add up
to something. Were also talking a lot more about how to unify the diverse
sets of people involved in the issues that we are passionate about.
Most of the young people in the fellowship are from St. Louis. They
paired us well. Everyone understands different peoples backgrounds. One
of our themes is to argue joyfully. At first, it made me uncomfortable to
think that people didnt think just like me. I always assumed other people
were wrong if they didnt think like me. But there are so many perspectives.
I always knew I was interested in leadership. But I had never thought
Young Adult Forum about how I could be a leader in my day-to-day life. The fellowship inspires
me to be more active in my school community. I always thought that
This fellowship has given me the making a change was for someone else. I never imagined myself being
the change.
chance, and the hope, of actually Aspen Young Leaders Fellow Elyse Bonner is in her first year at Tuskegee
being able to change something.

University, studying environmental science.
Aspen Young Leaders Fellow John Stacker

assessment, says. If that sounds like a business-development
plan, thats because Dugan is an academic leader in the field
of leadership development. Under his direction, the division
is building an evaluation mechanism so that evidence-based
practices can be infused into the Institutes programs.
Youth & Engagement is also making a serious effort to
include youth in all aspects of the big conversations happening
todayincluding those close to home. Y&E has reached out
to nearly every facet of the Institute itself, Vinnakota says,
to see where the division can create opportunities for young
voices to be heard.
That means working closely with the Aspen Global
Leadership Network to build a model for the Aspen Young
Leaders Fellowship, which incorporates lessons learned from the
AGLNs work with experienced leaders. Scott Bush, a Henry
Crown fellow and founder of AYLF, says, The Institute now
Dan Bayer, Rock Creek Productions
has the capacity to work with young people across the globe on
values-based leadership development. The Aspen fellowship was
life changing for me as an adult, and Im excited to see the work
being extended to young people.
It also means forming partnerships with The Bridge, the
Riccardo Savi
Sports & Society Program, the Center for Native American

Youth, and the National Commission on Social, Emotional, and
Bonner

Aspen Challenge
Dan Bayer
A TASTE OF THE IMPACT WE CAN ALL HAVE BY NICK DAVIS
HOW ASPEN CHALLENGE CHANGED ONE PARTICIPANTS COMMUNITYAND LIFE.
This past summer, I was invited to the Aspen Ideas Festival to moderate with a liquor store on every corner to a place with Pom juice stands on
a panel of young leaders from winning Aspen Challenge teams. One every corner. I felt over my head on a campus where folks like Ta-Nehisi
morning, on my way to one of the breakfast buffets, I was asked to Coates, Tony Fadell, and Arianna Huffington could be found enjoying
contribute my six words for Michele Norriss Race Card Project, which Wonderful pistachios and chicken jerky.
had a booth set up nearby. It wasnt until we had to present our solution that I finally felt like I
Let me eat first, I told her. Trust me. belonged in Aspen. People wanted to believe in me, connect with me,
I know what Im capable of when Im hangry. Being hangry involves and invest in me because of the impact the team had on our community
being just the right mix of tired, hungry, and irritable, something many and the problem-solving potential we possessed. As I went to more talks
humans experience when we arent adequately fed. and panels, I was exposed to some of the greatest thinkers and doers on
Being hangry isnt anything new to communities like my hometown of the planet. I would engage speakers between sessions, collecting advice,
Inglewood, California. Inglewood is a food desert, meaning we dont have names, and business cards. Slowly I began to envision myself in their
regular access to fresh, healthy, and affordable produce. And everyone shoes, thinking of business ideas, policies, designs, and solutions.
feels the pangs. After landing back at LAX, I saw the greenhouse through different
I first learned about food deserts four years ago as a senior at eyes. I saw an urban-farming revolution, a rallying cry for a community,
Westchester High School and a member of one of the inaugural Aspen and a beacon of inspiration for young people ready to do something.
Challenge teams in Los Angeles. In high school, I saw kids selling Hot There was a lot of work to be done.
Cheetos, sour worms, and even burritos out of their lockers. To the Four years after we built it and four years after my visit to Aspen, the
administration, this was an incredibly aggravating issue, but our Aspen greenhouse remains an invaluable part of the community and an educational
Challenge team saw industrious and creative youth who were making the asset, and Im incredibly grateful to have had the privilege of being involved in
best of what they had to work with. its development. What really excites me, though, is that thousands of youth
Considering the pervasiveness of the issue and the impact our team across the United States are now picking up their shovels, laptops, and pens,
felt we could have on our community, our Aspen Challenge team decided and confronting the toughest issues in their communities head-on.
to tackle the challenge issued by Kristin Groos Richmond: use food to Aspen Challenge doesnt just bring awareness to issues or teach young
bring peers together and create a healthier community. people how to think critically. It inspires entire communities to put their heads
Our solution included building an aquaponic greenhouse in an empty together and answer the challenge. It forces politicians, media, and business
lot on our high schools campus, then we set up a curriculum and farmers leaders to recognize and respect youth voices. It opens the eyes of young
market around it. In the eight weeks between the start of the challenge people so we look at problems differently, and it sets up a framework for us
and our presentation, we developed a lesson plan, built the foundation and to address whatever challenges we set our eyes on. But most importantly,
framework of the greenhouse, compiled a cookbook, and raised several it gives us a taste of the impact we can have on our surroundings, and the
thousand dollars in funds from community organizations. We involved agency to empower ourselves and our peers to make it happen.
local businesses, urban-farming experts, and parents; we even got the I went back to Micheles booth and wrote my six words: Feed the
LA City Council to pass an initiative supporting our work. We won the world, were all hangry.
challenge and the trip to the 2013 Aspen Ideas Festival.
But soon after landing in Aspen, the team realized we werent in
Inglewood anymore. It was a bit of a culture shock, coming from a place Nick Davis is a 2013 alumnus of the inaugural Aspen Challenge: Los Angeles.

Dan Bayer
Riccardo Savi
Young Adult Forum at the Aspen Ideas Festival
The fellowship has developed

me in a multifaceted way Im
building a skill set that is very
wide and robust.
Aspen Young Leaders Fellow Stephanie Avila
Academic Development to start a dialogue about the issues young
people are most passionate about. It means sharing programming,
hosting joint events, and supporting Institute programs with
research. There are places where we dont need to recreate the
wheel, Vinnakota says. We can lean into the experience of the
Institute.
And Y&E has other plans in the works, too, like a youth
leadership-development conference. The event will be
designed by a national youth advisory committee and bring
together young people from all over the country. It will also
unite multiple programslike Aspen Challenge, the Aspen
Young Leadership Fellowship, and AspenXin one locality for
broad, interactive discussions. This will allow the Institute to
serve more young people more effectively and to gather critical
insights about youth development for educators, practitioners,
Courtesy of Bezos Scholars Program
and policymakers nationwide.

Young peoples voices need to be engaged across a
tremendous number of areas, Vinnakota says. Young leaders
need to be effective at voicing their own perspectives.
Alison Decker is a managing editor of Ideas: The Magazine of

Bezos Scholars the Aspen Institute.

YOUTH & ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS
ARCHETYPE
ArcheType engages youth from across the United States who have demonstrated extraordinary agency and enables them to expand their
impact. The program elevates young peoples work by broadcasting their stories on a global media platform, inspiring other youth to take action,
too. Through media ArcheType can establish a narrative that young people have what it takes to make a meaningful difference in the world.
Through a rich group experience composed of activities that build on each other, participants can develop their existing work, generate tangible
solutions for new ideas in design workshops, build meaningful relationships with near-peer mentors, get professional feedback on their work,
broaden their use of entrepreneurship, and hone their leadership skills. aspeninstitute.org/archetype
THE ASPEN CHALLENGE

The Aspen Challenge is an innovative national youth leadership initiative that elevates youth voices and empowers students to tackle critical
problems in their communities. Industry experts and community leaders challenge students to create projects that address the problems
they see around them every day and then advocate for those solutions. Launched in partnership with the Bezos Family Foundation, Aspen
Challenge participants are given a chance to use their imagination, enthusiasm, competitive spirit, and sense of global citizenship to solve some
of societys toughest issues. aspenchallenge.org
ASPENX
AspenX is a high-touch two-day program for high-school students that works to connect virtual learning with in-person moderated
dialogue in the style of the traditional Aspen Institute seminar. AspenX provides a unique opportunity for students to explore difficult
topics through conversations with peers who have different perspectives and backgrounds but come from the same hometown.
aspeninstitute.org/aspenx
BEZOS SCHOLARS PROGRAM

The Bezos Scholars Program is a yearlong leadership-development program for public high-school juniors and educators. It begins with a
scholarship to attend the Aspen Ideas Festival and continues through the following school year when Bezos Scholar teams return home to
launch sustainable, Local Ideas Festivals that transform their schools and communities. For 12 years, Bezos Scholar teams have mobilized
communities around a range of critical issues to alleviate rural poverty, increase digital literacy, create healthier food environments, inspire
conservation leadership, and more. bezosscholars.org
TEEN SOCRATES
Teen Socrates is a three-day seminar modeled after the Institutes Executive Seminar that takes place each year over Presidents Day
weekend in Aspen, Colorado. Teens between the ages of 15 and 17 from the Roaring Fork Valley and across the country take part in
lively, intensive roundtable discussions led by skilled moderators. Registration for the Teen Socrates seminar is open to the public, and
a strong recruitment effort is made to reach local and diverse students. The seminar is dedicated to enhancing leadership, problem
solving, and critical thinking skills for high-school students. aspeninstitute.org/teensocrates
THE HURST GREAT IDEAS STUDENT SEMINARS

The Hurst Great Ideas Student Seminars are modeled after the Aspen Institute Executive Seminar, which has been bringing leaders
from around the world together for over 65 years. The Youth & Engagement Programs offer two Hurst Student Seminarsone for
10th-graders and one for 8th-graders. Each seminar convenes a diverse group of 24 to 28 students for lively, intensive routable
discussion led by a skilled moderator in an environment that encourages big ideas. A variety of classic and contemporary texts form the
starting points of rich conversations in which the questions posed by participants are often as illuminating as the varied, timeless wisdom
of the texts. Each four-day seminar is dedicated to enhancing self-confidence, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills. Students
are challenged to think more analytically and deeply about their values and ideasand those that make the Good Society.
aspeninstitute.org/studentseminars
THE YOUTH COMMISSION ON SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL, AND ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT

The Youth Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development is composed of a group of 18 young people ages 14 to 24
who are appointed for two-year terms to advise the Institutes National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development.
These leaders are working to re-envision what constitutes success in Americas K12 schools. By engaging educators, families, local
leaders, researchers, and policymakers in communities across the country, the Youth Commission will explore how schools can fully
integrate social, emotional, and academic development to support the whole student. aspensead.org
ASPEN YOUNG LEADERS FELLOWSHIP

The Aspen Young Leaders Fellowship is an extension of the Institutes core values-based work to develop a global community of
entrepreneurial leaders committed to the greater good. The fellowship is a place-based, multi-site initiative designed to advance the
next generation of local, purpose-driven young leaders. The fellowship translates leadership potential into leadership reality through a
program that includes intensive values-focused dialogue, community-focused social ventures, and engagement with current leaders
and mentors. aylf.aspeninstitute.org
YOUNG ADULT FORUM AT THE APSEN IDEAS FESTIVAL

The Young Adult Forum is a one-day annual convening at the Aspen Ideas Festival for young people ages 14 to 24 from across the
United States and the world. Participants have the opportunity to have discussions with some of the brightest minds on the Aspen
Ideas Festival stage about the key issues of the day. The event includes an interactive evening of presentations, small group discussions,
performances, and opportunities to engage with other participants.

Urbina
Aspen Challenge
Bezos Scholars Program IT SHOWED ME WHO I AM

A YOUNG BEZOS SCHOLAR FINDS AND THEN UNLEASHES WHAT HE LOVES TO DO.
BY JACOB URBINA
I remember the moment of pure exhilaration when I was chosen to become a Bezos Scholar. In my small
East Texas town, I had never heard of an opportunity of this magnitude. Remarkable students from
across the United States and Africa would join together to listen to speakers sharing their passions with
the world. We as students were to become the next wave of leaders, thinkers, and innovators changing
the way we see our world.
And why was I a part of that?
I asked myself this so many times. I havent done anything too special. I havent done anything that
would mark me as different as a person. I only have a couple of good grades, one or two examples of
leadership, and an ability to write a few essays. Out of all the juniors who applied, there was a 0.0003
percent chance of my name being chosen (give or take!).
The Hurst Great Ideas Student Seminars
The Bezos Scholars Program and the Aspen Institute showed me who I am.
In collaboration with the wonderful educators and leadership mentors, I was able to listen to my
passions, like STEM education in elementary schools. Along with my educator scholar and the generous
assistance from the Bezos Scholars Program, we created a Local Ideas Festival where participants built
hovercrafts for younger students to ride and discussed the laws of rocketry. I personally was able to
showcase how different salts make different flame colors, and another volunteer taught basic circuitry
and computer-programming skills. Science was never a huge part of schoolwork in my little neck of the
woods. But after our Local Ideas Festival, teachers were excited and wanted to make it an annual event.
Two weeks before I left for the Aspen Ideas Festival, I was in an accident while volunteering that
resulted in the amputation of a finger. After I had undergone surgery, I felt as though I had lost what
made me me. I didnt think I could play instruments anymore or even use my hand correctly. But the
Bezos Scholars Program still welcomed me with open arms. Through the process of our Local Ideas
Festival, I realized that to change the world, we must keep moving forward. I am currently enrolled at
the University of Texas, Austin, studying honors biomedical engineering to develop better prostheses for
amputees. Ive already designed one for myself and am in the process of designing the next one.
The Bezos Scholars Program helped me find what Im passionate about. It equipped me with the skills
I needed to make a difference and to inspire others to make a difference. Stay curious.
Young Adult Forum at the Aspen Ideas Festival Jacob Urbina is a 2016 alumnus of the Bezos Scholar Program.

At the Institutes Wye River campus, an underground
village awaited the Armageddon Arthur Houghton and
his Cold War peers fearedand eerily awaits still.
by meryl chertoff | photography by melissa grimes-guy

Photos: top, entrance to the fallout shelter, a short walk from
Houghton House; bottom, files now in storage at the shelter
provide a glimpse of the Institutes programming history
Notice they built two turns as you

enter. Radiation doesnt turn corners, so
they designed it specially this way.
Thats Jack Covert, our guide on a tour of the

fallout shelter constructed at the direction of Arthur
Houghton on the Wye River property that is now the
Aspen Institutes Eastern Shore Maryland campus.
Covert remembers being told this in 1962, at the
height of the Cold War, when as a recent college
graduate, he started doing grounds-keeping and
maintenance at the Houghton property. It was the
run-up to the Cuban missile crisis, Covert says, and
he absorbed this bit of information along with details
on maintaining the newly opened shelterall of it
scary.
The Cold War. It is a distant memory for those of
us who were already born, distant history to those
who were not. Yellow and black civil-defense signs
in the halls of apartment buildings. Hushed adult
conversations during the Cuban missile crisis. The
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Doomsday Clock set at
two minutes to midnight. But its back. A recent New
Yorker article detailed the lavish preparations being
made by some Silicon Valley billionaires for the end
of civilization as we know it. Kim Jung-un threatens
to unleash nuclear terror on the American mainland
and our Korean Peninsula allies; our current president
retorts with equally bellicose and unrealistic threats.
On the Eastern Shore of Maryland, surrounded by
fields of corn and soybeans, Angus cattle roam and
waterbirds drift overhead, and a remnant remains of
an earlier era when the threat of nuclear apocalypse
was as real as that little toolshed sitting there on the
side of the road.

A casual visitor can easily miss the entrance to the Bunk beds, gone since the shelter became
10,000-square-foot underground complexit looks like
a toolshed, a few hundred feet from the residence Arthur a storage facility for Institute archives,
Houghton built for his family on the same parcel where the furnished each room. There was even a
family of William Paca, a Maryland governor and signer of
the Declaration of Independence, had lived. stack of body bags in a remote corner.
A field of soybeans partially obscures the view to the
approach road to the Institutes River House, the house that Rows of canned and dried goods took up one large
Houghton began as a second home and that was completed storeroom, with Houghtons directions for rotating and
as a conference center in 1988. discarding outdated items written out in detail. Chemical
Its like a time capsule, a visitor remarks as we make our toilets were designed to save precious water. Generators were
way down the sloping entryway. housed in one clean area where they could be maintained
The place has a grim logic. Houghton, who was deeply and fueled, to be vented into another dirty one: radiation
engaged in the design and construction of all the properties at was inevitable in a space open to the outside air. Two water
Wye, designed the shelter to house 50 peoplenot just him and tanks held about 5,000 gallons between thembut were
his family but also all the staff he employed and their families as divided so that a leak in one would leave the second available
well. Howard Ely, a local builder, did the construction, pouring for use. Air vents could be operated in two ways: by the
concrete on top of metal overlaid by five feet of earth. generators and, if those failed, by hand crank, with sturdy
No detail was unconsidered. There were showers, a hardware that still works, as Covert demonstrates for us.
printed-out protocol for decontamination, and bathrobes Bunk beds, gone since the shelter became a storage facility for
to change into afterward. Fresh sheets were ready, and each Institute archives, furnished each room, with a special suite
family was asked to bring a suitcase to store in the facility in designated for the ownersthe chintz fabric of an ancient
advance, in case they should need to evacuate quickly to the settee and an upholstered screen hint at the ambience. There
underground dwelling. Years after bringing down a suitcase was even a stack of body bags in a remote corner.
to provision his own loved ones, Covert opened it to find a Houghton stocked the shelter with tools and lumber as
pair of one of his childrens long since outgrown shoes. well, so that the men could build something if they needed

Photos: (clockwise, from pg. 60): ceiling air-exhaust fan; portable air circulators; electrical
equipment panels; double water tanks

The Eastern Shore was just far enough
from DC to be out of what was certain
to be a blast zone. Survival, the experts
told locals, was possible with the right
precautions.
it, Covert explains. Fishing tackle and guns for hunting

would allow survivors, once they emerged, to provide food
for their families. It was said that Holly Houghton, Arthurs
daughter, claimed she would not go into the shelter in
the event of calamity, for she could not bring with her a
beloved horse. And the Houghton family was not alone in
its preoccupation.
Fallout shelters were in vogue on the Eastern Shore in
the 1960s, says Jeff Horstman, Arthurs stepson. Though
few, if any, were as elaborate as this one, even modest
homes had basement shelters stocked with a few basics
and water, designed to let their residents ride out nuclear
Armageddon. The Eastern Shore was, after all, just far
enough from DC to be out of what was certain to be a
blast zone. Survival, the experts told locals, was possible
with the right precautions. The worldly and well-connected
Houghton knew people in Washington; hed get advance
notice if things were falling apart. As Covert remembers his
words, wouldnt it be foolish not to have built the thing if it
turned out to be needed?
By the late 1970s, the concept and reality of mutually
assured destruction seemed to make that prospect more
Photos (clockwise from top): Houghton family member Jeff Horstman and Jack Covert look
over schematic drawings; chemical toilet to save water; teleprompter with script from Museum
of Broadcasting, stored in the shelter after the Cold War; one of the three generators used to
power the shelter

Photos: left, panel with keys to all rooms in the shelter; right, fresh air and sunlight
through shelter door
distantalthough tensions between the United States and Ill give you one more chance to get that beam going
the Soviet Union remained high well into the Reagan years. or Ill kill you and the girl and Ill rule the moon with this
Horstman remembers the shelter as a great place for his gunOne
teenage parties, and a curiosity that stimulated cocktail- Save Yourself Jerry!
party banter among visitorsexcursions to view it were Two
common after a few drinks on the patio. Princess Anne and No!
Mark Phillips were among the dignitaries who toured it as Three
houseguests of the Houghtons. By the time the Wye River In a recent article in Wired, my Institute colleague
property was donated to the Institute in 1979, the fallout Garrett Graff notes that at one time, the Federal Emergency
shelter had fallen into disuse. A recent visit revealed rows Management Agency inventoried properties that could be
of files from Institute programs in place of the canned- used to shelter public officials in an emergency. Perhaps it is
goods inventory, and rooms of teleprompters and recording time to dust off the Wye fallout shelter and put it back on the
equipmentrelics of a period when several rooms were used list. We can hope not.
to store items from the collection of the former Museum of
Broadcasting, now the Paley Center for Media in New York Meryl Chertoff, the executive director of the Institutes Justice and Society
City. One script on roller paper in enormous early computer Program, worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency from
script reads: 2003 to 2005.

The Aspen Journal of Ideas offers thought-provoking analysis and issue-defining
information from the programs and partners of the Institute. The digital magazine,
updated weekly, is at aspen.us/journal.
72 BURNING THE CONSTITUTION

Congress is immobile. Liberty is under threat from
government encroachment. Justice is undermined daily.
Truth has been defined down. Many millennials dont
think democracy even matters. Mickey Edwards says its
time for those who still believe in our founding document
to take up the flag.
74 MISSED GOALS
Latino culture has a passion for soccer. And yet, in the US,
where the Latino population has exploded, soccer remains
an exclusive game for white kids in the suburbs. Latino
children face a number of barriers to the sport: language,
documentation, green space, expenses. Jon Solomon asks:
Imagine if we could harness all of that untapped talent.
76 THE CITY, REINVENTED

Its easy to think of a big, diverse city as a hub of
inventionwhen more minds are put to a task, the better
the outcome. Unfortunately, many cities are still stratified
by outdated zoning policies meant to silo neighborhoods
by class and race. But now, writes Jennifer Bradley, city
planners are uniting these urban fragments. Thats good,
because more inclusive cities are more innovative cities.
78 EMPOWERMENT, NOT FEAR

Many in the working class feel left out of the current world
order. As a result, the West is seeing a surge in nationalism
and populism. Many think technology is to blame: it
strips laborers of jobs and then foments their anger over it
online. So should we regulate or restrict technology? No,
according to Michael Koran, we should embrace it.
80 THE SPIRITUAL TOOLBOX

Religious scripture has long given people comfort in times
of distress or at the end of their lives. But for many, a
potboiler or a poem has the same effect. Kerry Egan,
a chaplain who is also a writer explores how words and
stories of all kinds can inspire deep meaning.

BURNING THE
CONSTITUTION
We have ignored the countrys founding document to the extent that we
have a semi-imperial presidency that rules by fiat while Congress stands by.
By Mickey Edwards

W
e are at a time when the Constitution
or, as too many Americans think
of it, that somewhat interesting list Our constitutional system rests on a
of suggestions posted on a 1780s foundation of institutions. Every one of
websiteis not so much under
attack as forgotten, or ignored as an those is failing in its responsibility as
interesting artifact. This groundbreaking documentwhich protector of our constitutional democracy.
specifically rejected both monarchy and party government,
which so adeptly balanced empowerment and constraint, which
created citizens not subjectsis dying of wounds and neglect. a republic, he said, what species of knowledge can be equally
American constitutional government is a hybrid: a republic in important? Yet today the study of the humanities is grossly
its governing structure, a democracy in the ways we select those underfunded. Many of our schools have changed their focus from
who will govern. That system of government is in danger both the liberal artscivics, critical thinking, philosophy, literature,
as a republic and a democracy. The Constitution is about values: historyto education for employment, whether for the high-class
justice, liberty. Its about process: the rule of law, habeas corpus. white-collar world or for vocational and technical fields.
About our great protected rights: speech, worship, privacy. Corporate America has been seduced by claims that its
This is an et tu moment. Our liberties are threatened by only responsibility is to maximize profits, which it measures
increasingly intrusive state surveillance. Justice is undermined in short-term increments and achieves by outsourcing, layoffs,
by overzealous prosecutors, limited access to counsel, and the and a frustrating absence of customer access, accompanied by
killing of unarmed citizens. When constitutional constraints a tremendous gap between those who have much and those
stand in the way of a desired political outcome, process is who have not enough. The problem is not inequalitythe poor
ignored by left and right alike. dont envy the rich. The problem is inadequacy: too many cant
We have created and remain blindly loyal to an obsolete, afford a doctor visit or a car repair or to give their children
anachronistic, 18th-century partisan political system that divides money for lunch at school.
us against each other and has rendered the peoples assembly What has this to do with the Constitution? Why concern
incapable of governing. It has undermined the separation of ourselves with corporate behavior, why be bothered when the
powers and fostered a semi-imperial presidency that too often president of CBS boasted that Donald Trump, whether or not
rules by fiat while Congress sits idle and reporters write that the he was good for America, was good for CBS? How does the
White House is deciding whether to delegate writing a federal shooting of unarmed citizens relate to our constitutional crisis?
budget to its subordinates on Capitol Hill. Those who have long In November of last year, a New York Times headline
hoped for a strong presidency might want to rethink their wish. cautioned, How Stable Are Democracies? Warning Signs Flash
The Founders gave us a great blessing, but they also gave us Red. The story was based on a study by professors at Harvard
a great curse. The constitutional system they left us can survive and the University of Melbourne, later published in the Journal
only if it maintains the trust of its citizens and only if those of Democracy, that found that one in four millennials in the
citizens are capable of wisely using the power the Constitution United States thinks free elections are unimportant, and only
places in their hands. The success of democracy therefore rests one-third saw civil liberties as essential. A Freedom House study
on performance of the government, on the wisdom of citizens, found that nearly one-fourth of millennials think democracy is
and on a public trust that the system worksfor all the people. a bad political system. None of these are majorities; sometimes
It does not. Our constitutional system rests on a foundation people alter their views as they grow older. But the numbers are
of institutions: our education system, the media, the economic trending in a disturbing direction.
system, the justice system, a citizens legislature. Every one of I wish I could be more celebratory. But the challenges are
those institutions is failing in its responsibility as protector of real and they are upon us.
our constitutional democracy. My favorite poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay, was commissioned
The United States Congressthe peoples branch, the to write a sonnet for the dedication of the statue in the Capitol
constitutional repository of the war power, the spending power, honoring the women who fought for equal rights. She ended
the taxing power, the regulatory powercedes more and with these words: Forget the epitaph: take up the flag. Our
more authority to the executive branch and, in the process, system of constitutional democratic government is at risk. It is
surrenders the peoples authority. Congress is meant to ensure not enough to look back at what was, nor to wring our hands at
that the final word over government rests with the citizen and what is. It is our job to take up the flag, for all of us to become
to serve as a check on executive power. But it has abandoned its constitutional champions. The ideals of liberty, of justice, of
responsibilities and, in doing so, has weakened still further any self-government itself are on the line.
trust by the American public that its government works.
George Washington spoke passionately about the importance Mickey Edwards is an Institute vice president and the director of the
of educating young Americans in the science of government. In Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership.

MISSED GOALS
Playing soccer should be a matter of a ball and a patch of space. But the
children whose families cant afford $5,000 for equipment or coaching
are losing out. A group of grassroots soccer leaders are changing that.
By Jon Solomon
I
n many countries around the world, soccer remains an We try not to keep any documents, Garza says. For older
egalitarian game that low-income populations can play: teams that travel, especially close to the border checkpoint,
all you need is a ball and some space. In the United parents are very reluctant to let their children go.
States, however, youth soccer is a pay-to-play venture In 2015, journalist Roger Bennett and University of Chicago
that has been dominated by the suburban middle class economics professor Greg Kaplan produced a study comparing
since the sports boom in the 1970s. In the chase for a the background of each US mens soccer national team
college scholarship, families may spend $5,000 a year for access member with every NBA All-Star and NFL Pro Bowl player
to club teams and tournaments. from 1993 to 2014. Soccer players came from communities that
Its in this landscape where many Latino youthwhose had higher incomes, education, and employment rankings, and
culture is often identified by its passion for soccerget left were whiter than the US average. NBA and NFL players came
behind. from communities that ranked lower than average.
More kids play unorganized soccer in this country than Grassroots innovators like Garza say they want to create
organized soccer, says Doug Andreassen, who recently served healthier lives, routes to college education, and more integrated
as chairman of the Diversity Task Force for the US Soccer communities. In the United States, 42 percent of Latinos are
Federation, the governing body for the sport. Just under 8 percent obese, compared with about a third of whites, according to
of kids ages six to 12 play soccer on a regular basis, according to the the 2016 Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities report by the
latest Sports & Fitness Industry Association sports-participation Trust for Americas Health and the Robert Wood Johnson
surveydown 26 percent since 2011. Only track and field and Foundation. The Hispanic high-school dropout rate declined
wrestling experienced greater declines. Were not even close
to touching those [underserved soccer] kids, Andreassen says.
They would love to have US Soccer ask, Whats the pathway
for families who dont have $5,000 a year?
Theres a lot of [Latino] talent
To be clear, many kidsnot just Latinosare forgotten. being missed. When I think about
The focus in soccer often turns to Latinos because of the
large population in the United States and their lower median
the colleges and pros who cant tap
household incomes$45,148 compared with $62,950 for into this huge market, they face the
whites and $77,166 for Asians. Despite slowing population
growth, Latinos still accounted for 54 percent of US growth
same challenges: how to do it and
between 2000 and 2014, according to a Pew Research Center the commitment to do it.
analysis of US Census Bureau data.
Theres a lot of [Latino] talent being missed, says former
San Antonio Mayor Ed Garza, who founded the Urban Soccer from 32 percent in 2000 to 12 percent in 2014. Yet just 15
Leadership Academy in 2010 to help San Antonio urban youth percent of Hispanics have a bachelors or higher degree,
play soccer and advance to college. When I think about the trailing blacks (22 percent), whites (41 percent), and Asians
colleges and pros who cant tap into this huge market, they face (63 percent).
the same challenges as youth soccer clubs: how to do it and the Soccer can also empower Latina women, who are often
commitment to do it. overlooked in sports participation. Many parents may work long
Beyond the economic barriers, grassroots soccer leaders like hours for little pay, and young women are often asked to help
Garza identify a number of challenges in getting and keeping support younger siblings or take a part-time job.
Latino youth in the game: Garza doesnt see many soccer organizations trying to bring
Lack of safe places to play. underserved Latinos into soccer. I understand why, given the
Lack of transportation to practices and games. challenges, he says. You need a committed group of leaders
Too few trained Latino coaches. and volunteers to implement the vision. Youve got to be able to
Administrative barriers, such as knowing how to organize weather the storm of the initial few years to prove to people that
a nonprofit. youre here to stay and its something to invest in.
Language barriers that keep non-Spanish-speaking And thats coming from one of the nations most successful
coaches and administrators from connecting with Latino innovators. Imagine the challenges other leaders face in
families. leveraging the power and passion of soccer to improve the lives
Cultural barriers of merging Latino and US suburban of Latino youth.
culture.
Fear of providing documents and information during
registration that could be used against the family by US Jon Solomon is the editorial director of the Institutes Sports & Society
immigration officials. Program. Learn more at ProjectPlay.us.

THE CITY,
REINVENTED
Cities are the cradles of innovation: they cause creative collisions of
people, ideas, and identities. That creativity was interrupted by exclusion
and division. But now planners are knitting urban fabrics back together
to bring back the diversity all cities need to flourish.
By Jennifer Bradley
A
t their best, cities are wonderful places higher inequality is associated with lower growthcontrolling
to develop human capabilities and ideas. for all other relevant factorshas been verified by looking at a
Cities are where inventions cluster. Think range of countries and looking over longer periods of time.
about Silicon Valley and the tremendous Creative economists are influencing urbanists, the people
concentration of talent, companies, and who think about cities, to support inclusion. In cities across the
venture capital there. Ironically, technology, country, there are efforts to create more inclusive economies,
which was supposed to cut the ties between people and and more inclusive economic development. Pittsburgh has an
places and allow people everywhere to work from almost inclusive innovation road map. Washington, DC, is working on
anywhere, turns out to flourish in fairly compact geographic an inclusive growth plan, as is Austin. In the greater Cleveland
concentrations. Why do cities have this power? They are places area as well as in several neighborhoods in New York City,
where ideas, approaches, skills, and problems old and new meet philanthropies and community groups are coming together to
and recombine. connect economic development and community development
Across centuries, continents, and cultures, though, many of in ways that will lead new jobs and new sources of revenue to
the people who planned and built and led cities practiced an counteract rather than reinforce patterns of inequality.
urbanism of exclusion, division, and separation. Zoning laws These efforts to make cities more inclusive might also make
were in part a response to genuine public-health concerns: them more innovative. At the Center for Urban Innovation at
polluting factories and nuisances that were too close to homes, the Aspen Institute, were concerned with inclusive innovation
schools, and parks. But other concerns were at work. Within that is, innovations that benefit and are created by underserved
residential areas, zoning laws separated multi-family apartment and marginalized communities. This should be the next frontier
buildings from single-family homes in order to keep single-
family property values high and to keep people rich enough to
own their own homes apart from renters, who were not only
poorer but also more likely to be immigrants or people of color. Just as a lack of genetic
So the separation of housing by type was a means to diversity can cause problems
separate people, not just by class but by race. Weve all heard
of redliningthe federally sanctioned practice of saying in a population, a lack of idea
that some neighborhoods were worth lending to and some diversity can confine invention,
were not. These neighborhoods were delineated on maps
prepared by a federal government agency, the Home Owners creation, and problem-solving.
Loan Corporation, and the no-investment areas were
hand-colored in red. This division was not just a Southern
tragedy. The Mapping Inequality Project has created a site in innovation. Just as a lack of genetic diversity can cause
where people can compare old redline maps (about 250 are problems in a population, a lack of idea diversity can confine
available online) with current landmarks and streets to better invention, creation, and problem-solving. If you surround
understand how the past influences the present geography of yourself with people who are trained like you, who have the same
wealth and opportunity in cities. experiences as you, who have the same problem-solving tool kits
I could, unfortunately, walk through an analysis that shows as you, how likely are you to find a new approach? More diverse
where transit investments go and dont go: highways that run teamsdiverse in racial and gender compositionget better
through neighborhoods where redlining made land cheap; bus results. African American women dont think in only one way;
lines that stop at city borders; neighborhoods with too few parks Latino men dont think in only one way. The richer the mix,
and green spaces and sidewalks and bike lanes and grocery the greater the chance that the right ingredients for the next
stores. Thats a far cry from the ideal city where people have big move are available. Diversity can lead to more discomfort
meaningful and respectful social affiliations, control over their and, yes, conflict. But its worth the difficulty. Diversity leads to
material and political environment, and come to learn, imagine, better outcomes.
and create together. Harder problems need more minds. Can our cities be the
So the decisions of the past still strongly influence the places that take the lead in these innovations? Do they have the
present geography of wealth and opportunity in cities. But the civic resources, and the courage, to try and fail and learn, try
future might look different. City builders are realizing we cannot better and fail again and learn some more, until one of those
afford to continue exclusion. Economists used to believe that tries pays off? It is not enough to stop doing the wrong stuff.
policies that supported equity hindered efficiency and slowed People have to intentionally, continually do the right stuff. I am
down the growth machinery. No more. New research shows hopeful that cities are making this shift.
that equity and growth can be complementsand cities can
suffer from continuing disparities. The Nobel Prizewinning Jennifer Bradley is the executive director of the Center for Urban
economist Joseph Stiglitz has written, The bottom line that Innovation at the Aspen Institute.

EMPOWERMENT,
NOT FEAR
Technology is destroying jobs and upending international politics. The way
to harness technology is not to try to turn the clock back, even if recent
elections make voters look ready to. Its to bring humanity to technology.
By Michael Koran
It is easy to catch a politician in a flat-out lie, but there are other ways that political
speech can deceive. Through machine learning, false-dilemma and many other
fallacies and inconsistencies can be fact-checked on a complex, global scale.
Great Britain, the United States, and Germany are currently and Twitter to YouTube and Weibo. This is understandable, but it
enjoying some of the best economic conditions in years. And yet all is also about taking control rather than empowering others.
three nations seem to be upending the democratic institutions that What if society saw opportunity in new technology instead
brought them there. Brits are taking the drastic measure of leaving of danger? People now have direct access to the political sphere.
the European Union. Americans voted for an amateur politician They can react in real time to political statements and decisions,
and entertainer mired in scandal and controversy. And Germans and can even communicate directly with leaders around the
gave radical anti-establishment rightist and leftist parties 20 percent world. We need to tap into this astonishing energy and turn it into
of the popular vote in the parliamentary election. positive policy.
Many have blamed this state of affairs on unscrupulous For example, through data analysis of personal earnings and
populists, hate-filled commentary, and Russian hackers. And public-services usage, governments will soon be able to target
though all of these factors are no doubt part of the problem, taxation in a more responsive way. Googles Eric Schmidt sees
they obscure the very real anxieties in Great Britain, the United global connectivity and technology like this as a way to make
States, and Germany, and they strip the West of responsibility for politics more transparent and responsible. It will allow citizens to
addressing those anxieties. There is something genuine happening better assess their government officialsand technology leaders
in these countriesa visceral anger. like Schmidt. Right now, innovators dont always consider the
For many, the future seems so technologically and culturally greater social impacts of their products. CEOs are understandably
different from what they have always known that they feel preoccupied with shareholders, and so they let a mentality of
vulnerable. People around the world are watching uncomfortably efficiency prevail. Thats why the rest of the world cannot rely on
as the skills they have honed for the past 30 years are surpassed tech pioneers alone to pave the way for better political climates.
by systems designed by 20-somethings. Governments have tried to Technology can process unprecedented scales of information
retrain workers and improve job-market competitiveness. But those in ways that a single human brain cannot. However, to harness this
who have worked hard for decades feel they have done their part; power, its critical to establish a dialogue between technology and
now it is time for the government to work hard for them. Instead, humanity. The cross-fertilization of social, ethical, and normative
to bolster the economy, governments rely more and more on new science and advanced technologies is vital.
technologies and less and less on traditional labor. As a result, Recently, I had a telling conversation with a computer scholar
workers see their leadersas being incapable of facing predatory at the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics, and Cybernetics.
economic globalization, demographic shifts, and corruption. We were discussing a project on global affairs, and we started
And in fact there is little room for deliberative and slow-moving talking about values. After a few minutes, I realized that while
institutions like government to catch up, given the pace of economic the scholar was talking about values as numbers entered into
and social development. All of which means that the boiling social a database, I was talking about the fundamentals of human
discontent across the West might well explode. experience. With a little patience, we found common ground and
Isolationists like Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Jaroslaw became amazed at the power of computing to address political
Kaczynski may slow down socioeconomic global development strife. For example, while it is easy to catch a politician in a flat-out
in their countries, but that isnt the answerand it will not lead lie, there are other ways that political speech can deceivelike
to better prospects for their citizens. Nor will it last. The future is through a false-dilemma fallacy, which is when two alternatives
rushing toward us, rendering conventional institutions irrelevant are held out to be the only possible choices, while in reality there
and dragging large parts of the world into a social and political are many possibilities. Through machine learning, many fallacies
atomization, not dissimilar to the transformative eras of the Thirty and inconsistencies like this can be fact-checked on a complex,
Years War or the French Revolution. Foreign Policys David Rothkopf global scale. This would not rule out political lies or manipulation,
wrote that the current moment is the day before the Renaissance. but it could contribute to a more honest and civil dialogue.
But what is exciting for some arouses dread in others. There is a far-reaching transformation just ahead, and the
Governments need to turn innovation to their advantage and world will likely be greatly surprised by it. But if we lookand
empower people to navigate a globalized and high-tech environment. actcarefully, we can ensure the surprise is a pleasant one.
Take social media. Many see social media as a cheap and fertile
outlet for all the hate, bullying, and racism that have taken root in
society. And so in reaction, Great Britain, the United States, and Michael Koran is the deputy executive director of Aspen Institute
Germany have attempted to control whats onlinefrom Facebook Central Europe.

THE SPIRITUAL
TOOLBOX
A writer and chaplain discovers that writers use words to make meaning
of their livesand to help others find their own meaning.
By Kerry Egan
Did you know that Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene were may have been falling apart, but the elegant and unwavering
married? And the church has been hiding it for 2,000 years? rules of mathematics meant that there was some order and
The patient threw her hands out to the side and shook her head, even goodness in the world.
dumbfounded. If religion is number one in many peoples toolbox, surely
Are you reading The Da Vinci Code? I asked, nodding at literature is second. Poems memorized in high school, novels
the book open and face down on her bed. Hospice and hospital read on the beach in middle age, storybooks from childhood,
patients love to talk about the books they are reading or have memoirs from the neighborhood book club, nursery rhymes
read. I know this because Im a health care chaplain. sung to them when they were babies.
Yes, and Im so glad youre here so we can talk about it, A patient once asked me to read him poems by Rainer
she said. I dont know what to make of this book. I need to Maria Rilke. Another recited poem after poem by Mary Oliver
figure out what it would mean if true. Do you think its true? from heart. A mother found, in reading Antoine de Saint-
Despite spending a month as a writer in residence Exuprys The Little Prince to her young child, a whole new
at Aspen Words in September 2015, where I understanding of her place in the world and her imminent
wrote almost the entire draft of my last book, death. Talking about Nathaniel Philbricks Mayflower led a
On Living, Ive never thought of myself primarily as a writer. I patient to a profound meditation on the difference between
think of myself as a chaplain, because thats what my education toughness and strength.
and training prepared me to be and because its the work that Sometimes it even surprises the patients themselves which
has made me happiest in life. snippet of verse or half-remembered book comes back to
But being a chaplain and being a writer are two sides of them. It might be arcane literary fiction or a potboiler, an epic
one coin. A writer tells stories; a chaplain listens to them. A poem or one of Aesops fables. You never know what piece
chaplains work is mostly listening to people as they do the work of writing will be the tool a patient needs to find meaning.
of making meaning out of the events of their lives. For someperhaps more than a lay person might guessit is
Every person is walking around with what I think of as a The Da Vinci Code.
spiritual toolbox. Its all the different ways people make sense The chaplain in me knows that we are in need of literature
of the things they cannot make sense of. Its the tools each of more than ever to help us navigate this life. I also know it is
us use to bring order to our world when it has descended into stories that can healprose and verse stories, our stories, and
chaos. Its the things we use to pull ourselves out of a spiritual the stories of others.
crisis. Its what a chaplain helps patients tap into, so they can To have a place and the time to write the poems and
find meaning and purpose in their life and death. stories, fiction and nonfiction, that might someday become the
Some people have a bounty of ways to cope, to make spiritual tools for another person is an extraordinary gift. The
meaning, to reconcile with loved ones. Some have very few. Aspen Words writer in residence program was a gift to me as
For manymaybe even most peoplethe most important a writer. The other stories written there, by other writers, are
tool is religion. Prayer, ritual, scripture, and hymns can all be gifts to me as a hospice chaplain and to my patients.
powerful tools to make sense of the big traumas and small
disappointments that mark a life.
Its not the only tool, however. To make meaning, people Kerry Egan is the author of On Living and a 2015 Aspen Words
also turn to family, friends, art, music, even the scientific writer in residence. The program is held in collaboration with the Catto
method. I had a patient who was a mathematician. His world Shaw Foundation.

FACES: Annual Awards Dinner
Donna Barksdale, Bill Bynum
Priscilla Chan
Mercedes Bass, Walter Isaacson
, Hope Bynum
Amma Ogan, Dele Olojede
Daniel Crown,
Paula Crown, Jim Crow
n, Lester Crown,
Andrew Crown
Andy Cunningha Bill Mayer, Peggy Culver
m, Francis Hoffman
Dele Olojede, Keith Berwick
Patrick Awuah, Mark Hoplamazian,

Elizabeth Baker Keffer
ot Pritzker
Madeleine Albright, Tom and Marg
Courtney Collins
Clint Spaulding
Jimmy and Pixie Reiss, Jim

Coulter
82 IDEAS SPECIAL ISSUE 2017

FACES: Society of Fellows Discussion Reception
Gillian Steel, Julian
David Leonhardt, Richard Brodhead Gillian Sorensen
Robertson,
Bob Steel Gina Soloperto, Kyle Dropp
Alan Quasha
Roy Bostock, David Leonhardt
Greg Raskin and Jackie Weiss Michelle Smith

Courtney Collins
Clint Spaulding
IDEAS SPECIAL ISSUE 2017 83

FACES: John P. McNulty Prize
y, Walter Isa acson Ann Lamont, Bart Houlahan,
y, Anne McNult
Brynne McNult Manoj Kumar, Andrew Kassoy
Aprile Age, Olara Otunnu
Bob Steel, Peggy Cu

lver, Lana Abu-Hijle
h, Bill Mayer
Johnny McNulty
Amjad Tadros
Ranji Nagaswami, Am
it Bhatia
Carolina Freire
Maria Pacheco, Dele Olojede,

Amy Crockett, Hildegard Vsq
uez
Clint Spaulding
Richard Jopson
Mercedes Bass Amy CrockettChand

ristine
Anne McNulty
Sharp , Ann Nitze, Di
ane Morris, Gil
Salmern lian Steel
Patrizia Pinzn, KC Hardin, Claudia
84 IDEAS SPECIAL ISSUE 2017

FACES: Tisch Series: Conversations with Great Leaders
Heather Watts,
Robert Meyerh
off, Rheda Beck
er
y Rick Luftglass
Laurie Tisch, Ava DuVerna
Damian Woetzel, Laurie Tisch

Debra Gardner, Robin Whittlin
Jeff and Susa

n Campbell
Clint Spaulding
Richard Jopson
Jody Arnhold, Ava DuVernay, Elizabeth Alexander, Thelma Golden
IDEAS SPECIAL ISSUE 2017 85

FACTS
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Olympian Angela Ruggiero, ex-NFL player Chris Kluwe NBCs Dan Hicks and kids WNBA player Chiney Ogwumike
Building Sport for All,

Play for Life Communities
3 5M+ Twitter accounts reached (trended nationally)
3 400+ attendees (3rd straight sellout)
3 60+ speakers
3 33 commitments to action
3 2 full days of programming Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred
Project Play 2020 industry announcement USAs Project Play Bobsled Kid golf!
Thank you to our partners
www.ProjectPlay.us @AspenInstSports
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stently One Of
ENS TOP
90 I D E A S WINTER 2017/18
CALENDAR
FEBRUARY 16-19
CALENDAR WINTER SOCRATES:
Geopolitical Ramifications of Chinas Belt and
Road Initiative
Age of Disruption: The Changing Role of News Media
DECEMBER 12 in America
MORRIS LECTURE SERIES: Learning from Lincoln: The Business, Politics, and
Technology and Man: How Technology Is Shaping the Art of the Nations Greatest Leader
Aspen Meadows Campus | Aspen, CO
Future of Human Society
The Walt Disney Family Museum | San Francisco, CA FEBRUARY 20-23
6:00-7:30 pm SOF TWO-DAY SYMPOSIUM: DEMOCRACY NOW?
DECEMBER 28
ASPEN INSTITUTE HOLIDAY PARTY MARCH 9-11
Aspen Meadows Campus | Aspen, CO SOCRATES SEMINAR:
5:00-7:00 pm Ronda | Spain
Brave New World: Technology and Society
MARCH 13-15
SOF TWO-DAY SYMPOSIUM: LIFE AND LEGACY OF
NELSON MANDELA
Aspen | Avon | Crested Butte | Basalt | Glenwood Springs | Rifle
Big-City Legal Services, Small-Town Practice Attorneys in Litigation & Transactional Law
Garfield & Hecht, P.C. is a proud sponsor of the Sandra Day OConnor Conversation Series
www.garfieldhecht.com | 970.925.1936 ph | atty@garfieldhecht.com

PARTING SHOT
Dan Bayer
BENEATH THE SURFACE
Winter is traditionally a time of hibernation. But at the Aspen Institute, our hibernating season is not a time to be
dormant. It is a time of incubating new ideas below the surface, preparing for seasons of growth. And we have a
few such seasons ahead: growing in new areas as we prepare for a new leader, growing into a new office space for
the Washington, DC, headquarters. And, of course, continuing to expand our ideas of what it means to be a Good
Society, and working to build that vision.
Ideas: The Magazine of the Aspen Institute is published three times each year by the Aspen Institute and distributed to Institute constituents, friends, and supporters.
To receive a copy, call (202) 736-5800. Postmaster: Please send address changes to The Aspen Institute Communications Department, Ste. 700, One Dupont Circle NW, Washington, DC 20036
or ideas.magazine@aspeninstitute.org.
The opinions and statements expressed by the authors and contributors to this publication do not necessarily reflect opinions or positions of the Aspen Institute, which is a nonpartisan forum. All rights reserved.
No material in this publication may be published or copied without the express written consent of the Aspen Institute. The Aspen Institute All rights reserved

Land & Luxury in Aspens West End
Dan Bayer
$13,950,000
6 Beds | 9 Baths | 7,257 SqFt
Overlooking open space to the east and dramatic sunsets

to the west Uhis impressive West End home is sited PO
PWFS 5 city lots. A short distance to the Aspen .FBEPXT
Resort, the Doerr-Hosier Center, Music Tent & the Aspen
InstitutePSDBUDIUIFGSFF%PXOUPXOFSUPUIF$FOUSBM
$PSFBeautifully remodeled & refurnished BMM bedrooms
but one are above grade with walkouts The lower level
features a large media room with wet bar, wine storage,
gym, guest master and one-bedroom apartment with
Lorrie Winnerman laundryand separate entrance.
lorrie.winnerman@compass.com
970.618.7772
Real estate agents aliated with Compass are independent contractor sales associates and are not employees of Compass. Equal Housing Opportunity. Compass is a licensed real estate broker located at 90 Fifth Avenue,
3rd Fl. NY, NY 10011. All information furnished regarding property for sale or rent or regarding nancing is from sources deemed reliable, but Compass makes no warranty or representation as to the accuracy thereof. All
property information is presented subject to errors, omissions, price changes, changed property conditions, and withdrawal of the property from the market, without notice. To reach the Compass main oce call 212.913.9058.

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Think good

Snack mindfully with Wonderful Halos. Sweet, seedless and

ASPEN BASALT GLENWOOD SPRINGS 970.925.8088 PALLADIUMASPEN.COM

IDEAS WINTER 2017/18 1

Palladium_Peak Wtr17-18final.indd 3 10/11/17 10:07 AM

Melanie Leigh Wilbur

2 IDEAS WINTER 2017/18

OYSTER PERPETUAL COSMOGR APH DAY TONA

rolex oyster perpetual, cosmograph and daytona are trademarks.

56 | BRINGING YOUNG VOICES INTO EVERY CONVERSATION

64 | THE SECRET SHELTER

THE JOURNAL OF IDEAS

76 | THE CITY, REINVENTED

over it online. So should we regulate or restrict technology? No, Michael

80 | THE SPIRITUAL TOOLBOX

4 IDEAS WINTER 2017/18

Aspen Estate by a natural orchestra of mountains, mature trees, sweeping

Steven Shane compass.com 970.948.6005 compass compassinc compass

6 IDEAS WINTER 2017/18

IDEAS WINTER 2017/18 7

ERIC L. MOTLEY, PhD

As the Institute faces its new future under new leadership, it is

8 IDEAS WINTER 2017/18

THE AVERAGE $30,000

Courtesy Nation Waste

NOT JUST TACOS HERE

12 IDEAS WINTER 2017/18

DuVernay and Woetzel

CREATING ART, CREATING JUSTICE

AUTONOMY IN AN AGE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

14 IDEAS WINTER 2017/18

JONATHAN FEINBERG PJ BORY ASHLEY CHOD COLTER SMITH NICK LINCOLN

RYAN ELSTON TONY DILUCIA JAMES MAGUIRE LAUREN BULLARD

RYAN THOMPSON SCOTT DAVIDSON CHRIS FLYNN MONICA VIALL

Start searching properties now at

HURRICANE AT THE LIBRARY

16 IDEAS WINTER 2017/18

JONATHAN FEINBERG PJ BORY ASHLEY CHOD COLTER SMITH NICK LINCOLN

RYAN ELSTON TONY DILUCIA JAMES MAGUIRE LAUREN BULLARD

RYAN THOMPSON SCOTT DAVIDSON CHRIS FLYNN MONICA VIALL

Start searching properties now at

FUSION ON THE BORDER

Courtesy Opportunity Threads

CAN THE MEDIA REBUILD TRUST WITH AMERICA?

past few decades. Many American readers distrust the press

will be released in fall 2018. aspeninstitute.org/c&s

18 IDEAS WINTER 2017/18

Courtesy Opportunity Threads

An Opportunity Threads employee and co-owner

MADE IN THE USA

revitalizing a local neighborhood rather than choosing an easier aspeninstitute.org/series/americas-rural-opportunity

IDEAS WINTER 2017/18 19

ELECTED AND SELECTED

20 IDEAS WINTER 2017/18

never been more critical.

To discuss giving opportunities, please contact

IDEAS WINTER 2017/18 23

HOW TO SAVE FOR AN EMERGENCY

24 IDEAS WINTER 2017/18

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY.

630 East Hyman Avenue | Aspen, Colorado 81611 | O: 970.925.8810 ENGELLANSBURGHTEAM.ELLIMAN.COM

IDEAS WINTER 2017/18 25

CITYLAB IN THE CITY OF LIGHTS

Photos: Melanie Leigh Wilbur