The Aspen Institute

Vivian Schiller recently joined The New York Times President & CEO Meredith Kopit Levien for a conversation on the future of journalism as AI technologies continue to advance. Amid copyright concerns with generative AI platforms, Kopit Levien spoke to the budget sizes behind Large Language Models and tech companies' responsibility to pay for the copyrighted works that feed their datasets. Watch the clip here. #HurstLectureSeries #GenerativeAI #SustainableJournalism

Really enjoyed interviewing Meredith Kopit Levien in Aspen last week. See below for link to video. # Aspen Digital

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We're thrilled to announce a new program of the Aspen Global Leadership Network: the Technology Leaders Initiative. At a time when technology shapes every aspect of our lives, we need leaders who think beyond innovation to grapple with power, responsibility, and the future we're building together. This program will bring together 20 senior leaders from across the global tech ecosystem for deep reflection, cross-sector dialogue, and meaningful collaboration toward a better future. Born out of collaboration among Fellows across the AGLN, the initiative aims to ignite the moral imagination of influential players in the technology sector, bridging both digital and geographic borders to build a new narrative for leadership in the industry. Launching with support from MBZUAI (Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence) and the University of Oxford's Institute for Ethics in AI, as well as a partnership with Aspen Digital, this program represents a unique approach to addressing today's most pressing digital challenges. Ailish Campbell (Finance Leaders Fellowship) and Jen Zhu Scott (China Fellowship) – two of the co-founding Fellows – announced the initiative last week at the 2025 Resnick Aspen Action Forum. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/d4Q7CKBk #AspenAction #AspenGlobalLeadershipNetwork

At this year’s Trust in Practice Summit in Chicago, hosted by the Aspen Institute's Alliance for Social Trust, more than 200 national and local leaders came together in a spirit of reflection, collaboration, and shared commitment to strengthening social trust. From starting local and listening deeply, to forging cross-sector partnerships and committing to the long haul, leaders explored practical strategies for building trust on the ground. These ideas surfaced not just in formal plenary sessions, but in hallway conversations and quiet moments throughout the Summit. We asked a few attendees how the experience shaped their thinking, and their reflections were honest, thoughtful, and inspiring. Want to dive deeper? Explore key takeaways from the Summit here: https://lnkd.in/dxdetyYJ

Summer’s winding down, but the conversations are still flowing. Join us as we kick off this August with big ideas on strengthening America's democracy, economic prosperity, and the secret life of the brain. Learn more and register here: https://lnkd.in/dd4YrrCU

What are the ingredients of successful leadership? Who better to ask than Corby Kummer, Executive Director of Food and Society at Aspen Institute and renowned author on food and food policy? "When you think about dialogue and trust in leadership, they're both essential, and I don't think you can have one without the other," says Corby. In the latest In Session episode, Corby shares three powerful lessons from leading the Food Leaders Fellowship that apply to leaders across industries and disciplines. Watch the full session on our YouTube: https://lnkd.in/epY-y_aA

This is the start of something bigger than ourselves. The final day of VisionXChange started with Amanda Gorman’s poem “What We Carry”. In it she writes, “It is the future we save from ourselves, for ourselves.” As the days passed on the Aspen Institute campus, voices got louder, circles of people on the lawns got wider and more folks paused by the signs that dotted the campus with quotes and questions like “Is the work that we’re doing bringing us closer to that future, or is it taking us further away?" (Allyn Brooks LaSure) In our final session, Megan Wyatt (Bezos Family Foundation) joined Anthony Barrows (LIFT NY), Reggie Bicha (APHSA -- American Public Human Services Association), and K. Ron-Li Liaw (Children's Hospital Colorado) in a compelling conversation about our collective opportunities to build a world that truly works for families. Speaker Daniel Varner highlighted the importance of being united in vision as we do the challenging, deeply meaningful work to find common ground amid different approaches and mindsets, and build specific solutions that work in communities. As we closed, Neo Muyanga brought the house down with his choir of Ascenders who drew on meaningful songs of their past to turn from shower singers and professed can’t-carry-a-tune-ers to a bonafide singing phenomenon. Together, they reminded us that “we are one”. These voices raised a clarion call to all of us about the power of collective action. In our time together, we reconnected with each other and ourselves. We rediscovered the deep resources we have. And we know, deep inside ourselves, and as part of a determined choir, that we can do big things. In "What We Carry," Gorman’s last stanza says it all: “We are enough, Armed only With out hands, Open but unemptied, Just like a blooming thing. We walk into tomorrow, Carrying nothing But the world.” Ascend’s next chapter starts now. We have the North Star: creating a better future for children and families. We have the talent and the perseverance. We are ready to build, in Alberto Ríos’s words, “A House Called Tomorrow.”

Climate action isn’t just good PR anymore, it’s a pragmatic business imperative. From making operations and supply chains resilient in the face of long-term climate risks to cutting costs through innovation, the climate conversation is getting more sophisticated, more urgent, and more embedded in corporate strategy. At last week’s Aspen Ideas Climate in Chicago, Justin Worland led a powerful conversation focused on the macro business case for continuing to work on climate. Read his latest piece in Time for key insights from that discussion and the broader forces reshaping business strategy: https://lnkd.in/e5McmszU

This past weekend, we opened our doors wide for The Aspen Institute’s 75th Anniversary Community Day—an inspiring celebration of dialogue, reflection, and connection on our Aspen Meadows campus for members of the Aspen, CO community. Thank you to Cristal Logan and the Aspen Community Programs team for shaping such a meaningful day—and to all who joined us to honor the spirit that has animated the Institute since our founding. Whether you joined a walking tour, explored the exhibition in the Resnick Center for Herbert Bayer Studies, participated in a flash seminar, or gathered for David Brooks’ thought-provoking conversation on humanism and renewal, every moment highlighted our enduring belief that dialogue, ideas, and community can help shape a better future. As our founders envisioned, Aspen—both the Institute and the community that surrounds us—remains a place where the human spirit can truly flourish.