Aspen Institute

Will College Students Really Step Up in U.S. Microfinance?

Elaine Edgcomb | Posted 05.18.2012

Read More: Aspen Institute, Microentrepreneurs, Microenterprise, Microfinance, FIELD at the Aspen Institute, Student Leadership Microfinance, Microfinance Leadership, College Student Microfinance, Impact News
Elaine Edgcomb

The U.S. microenterprise field is over 25 years old now, and there are hundreds of organizations that will be looking at leadership transition over the coming years. What's the best way to engage the best and the brightest of the Millennials to step up?

Read Post

The "Aspen Curse" & the Sorry State of Bipartisanship

Jonathan_Miller | Posted 05.16.2012

Read More: Michael Steele, Aspen Institute, Bipartisanship, Jon Bruning, Civility, Gabby Giffords, No Labels, Politics News
Jonathan_Miller

It's up to all Americans who are fed up with politics as usual to help break the Aspen Curse, to help defeat the larger political toxicity that infects our democratic process.

Read Post

(Graduation) Hats Off to Mothers

Anne Mosle | Posted 05.15.2012

Read More: Early Childhood Development, Women, Education, Women's Issues, Mother's Day 2012, Solutions, US Poverty, Postsecondary Education, Aspen Institute, Early Childhood Education, Higher Education, Social Capital, Impact News
Anne Mosle

With Mother's Day flowers still fresh and commencements kicking off this week, let's turn our energy toward saluting the achievements of resilient student mothers.

Read Post

Kyra Sedgwick Leads Global Call to End Plastic Pollution at United Nations

Lisa Kaas Boyle | Posted 04.02.2012

Read More: Marine Debris, Plastic Pollution, Game Changer Bucket, Aspen Institute, 5 Gyres, Jimena Leiva Roesch, Marcus Eriksen, Kyra Sedgwick, Disposable Plastic, Aspen Institute Catto Fellowship, Bpa, Plastic Waste, Green News
Lisa Kaas Boyle

Kyra Sedgwick, film actress and star of television's popular show The Closer, is using her famed communications skills to educate the public and world leaders about something that really upsets her: single-use plastics.

Read Post

Where Will the Next Generation of Innovators Come From?

Idit Harel Caperton | Posted 02.15.2012

Read More: World Wide Workshop, Games, Globaloria, Videogames, Game Programming, Innovation, Education Reform, Technology, STEM Education, Learning Initiatives, Job Creation, K-12 Education, Aspen Institute, Education News
Idit Harel Caperton

Yesterday was a busy day. Google announced at 3am EST their "GoogleGiveBack" program, listing grants they've made to support education, technology innovation, and the fight against modern-day slavery.

Read Post

Business Headlines May Be Gloomy, But There Are Bright Spots

Judith Samuelson | Posted 01.31.2012

Read More: Advent Financial Services, walmart.com, Unilever, First Movers Fellowship, Social Innovation, Bbva, Aspen Institute, Business Impact, Fedex, Inter-American Development Bank, Business News
Judith Samuelson

When I check out the morning headlines, I have a yearning for the problems of yore. I want to go back to 2002 and worry about Enron, rather than a global meltdown.

Read Post

Africa's Entrepreneurial Hot-Spot

Randall Kempner | Posted 01.20.2012

Read More: Goldman Sachs, Small Business America, Ande, Lagos, Small Business, Africa Entrepreneurs, Africa, Aspen Institute, Nigeria, Startups, Entrepreneurs, Aspen Institute Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship, Small Business News
Randall Kempner

Lagos is an incredibly tough place to grow a business. The power goes out all the time, the government regulations stifle start-ups, the educational infrastructure is highly insufficient and the traffic insane. But the entrepreneurial streak runs strong in the Nigerian people--and barriers that would paralyze a typical Western entrepreneur are not enough to stop Nigerians.

Read Post

New Ranking Spotlights Business Education That Works for the Planet

Judith Samuelson | Posted 11.21.2011

Read More: Ranking, Beyond Grey Pinstripes, Environmental Impact, Education, Business School, Stewardship, Social Impact, Aspen Institute, Financial Crisis, Mba, Business News
Judith Samuelson

Business educators are stepping up to the plate to bring the so-called "soft stuff" -- like values, ethical considerations and long term environmental impacts -- right smack into the B-school classroom.

Read Post

What's Next for Clean Energy

Michael Moynihan | Posted 09.30.2011

Read More: Wind, Electricity 2.0, Clean Energy, Solar, Energy Policy, Utility 2.0, Electric Cars, Wind Power, Solar Energy, Aspen, Renewable Energy, Aspen Institute, Section 1603, Solar Generated Power, Green News
Michael Moynihan

Despite intense focus by Silicon Valley and the support of the US government, the US is not catching up with Europe or China on clean energy and in many measures, we are falling further behind.

Read Post

I Dare You

Tamsin Smith | Posted 09.17.2011

Read More: Aspen Institute, Social Entrepreneurship, Act II, Stepping Up, Social Entreprenuership Conference, Impact News
Tamsin Smith

I just attended ACT II, a biannual gathering of entrepreneurial leaders from across the Aspen Institute's global network of fellows. The theme for th...

Read Post

Why Pepsi's CEO Should Continue Speaking Out

Judith Samuelson | Posted 09.06.2011

Read More: Healthy Food, Organic Food, Soda, Food Politics, Aspen Institute, Food, Diabetes, Obesity, Pepsi, Wall Street Journal, Sugar, Business News
Judith Samuelson

If I could give an award for the most bewildering headline in recent months, it would be the WSJ story about Pepsi and the shrinking cola market. Let me get this straight. PepsiCo is criticized for focusing on healthy foods?

Read Post

Business Must Lead From the "Mud" to Bring About Big Change

Judith Samuelson | Posted 08.27.2011

Read More: Aspen Institute, Climate Change, Green Business, Harvard, Business, Global Warming, Green News
Judith Samuelson

I saw a remarkable new play this weekend based on a real event and a divisive subject matter. In 1920, Harvard convened a "secret court" to dislodge ...

Read Post

Bezos Scholars Program -- Incubating Big Ideas and Model Citizens -- One High School at a Time

Jeffrey Abelson | Posted 06.11.2011

Read More: Bezos Scholars Program, Service Learning, Aspen Ideas Festival, Civic Engagement, Bezos Family Foundation, Aspen Institute, Song of a Citizen, High School, Serious Citizen, Education Reform, Students, Jeffrey Abelson, Education News
Jeffrey Abelson

The bottom line is that if students don't have a visceral sense of their roles as citizens, upon graduation from high school, they're not likely to develop that sense of civic connection later.

Read Post

Budget Cuts Threaten America's Smallest Businesses

Elaine Edgcomb | Posted 05.29.2011

Read More: Small Business Administration, Small Business, Capitol Hill, Budget Cuts, Budget, Aspen Institute, Obama Administration, Entrepreneurship, Small Business America, Jobs, Microlenders, Community Development Financial Institution, Recession, Small Business Lending, Banks, Economic Recovery, Job Creation, Microenterprises, Business News
Elaine Edgcomb

Budget cuts can have a very real effect on our nation's smallest businesses and the organization's that serve them.

Read Post

Digital Stories Dramatize Information's Role in the Lives of People and Communities

Peter M. Shane | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Peter M. Shane, Peter Shane, Information Stories, Knight Commission, Information, Digital Narratives, Knight Foundation, Aspen Institute, Digital Storytelling, #Infostories, News, Journalism, Liv Gjestvang, Media News
Peter M. Shane

My hope is that the online stories will help motivate activists around the country to pay attention to their local information ecologies.

Read Post

New Aspen Institute Center Aims To Boost Lives Of Young Indians

AP | MATTHEW DALY | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Aspen Institute, Native Americans, Center for Native American Youth, Byron Dorgan, Denver Impact, Denver News

WASHINGTON — Young Native Americans commit suicide at a rate more than three times the national average. Now a private program has been created ...

Read Whole Story

What Amy Chua and President Obama Have in Common: Parenting and New Trends in Home Learning

Elisabeth Stock | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Cfy, Education News, Education Technology, Blair Levin, Academic Achievement, Statistics, Elisabeth Stock, U.S. Department of Commerce, Aspen Institute, Technology Immersion Pilot, Home Technology, Computers for Youth, Education, Blended Learning, Fcc, Home Learning, National Broadband Plan, Extended Learning, Self-Directed Learning, Digital Divide, Education News
Elisabeth Stock

We must heed the President's call to invest in both education and broadband, but to do so in a way that dovetails the two to promote greater learning in the homes of students at all income levels.

Read Post

Protecting West's Forests From Global Warming "Moral Issue," Gore Says

David Frey | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Aspen Institute, Bark Beetles, Al Gore, For the Forest, Global Warming, Denver News
David Frey

The former vice president who has become a climate change crusader spoke to a crowd gathered at the Aspen Institute.

Read Post

Entrepreneurs Are Transforming The Developing World

Randall Kempner | Posted 12.07.2011

Read More: Impact Investing, South Africa, Socially Responsible Investing, Small Business, Developing World, Developing Countries, Aspen Institute, Entrepreneurs, India, Entrepreneurship, Small Business America, Investors, Business News
Randall Kempner

At least once a day at work (and all too often at cocktail parties), I have the opportunity to explain to a newcomer in my field why I think small and growing businesses (SGBs) are key to long-term poverty eradication in developing countries.

Read Post

Media Lit 101: The Aspen Institute -- Photoshopping Madeleine Albright & Condi Rice

Susan Moeller | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Digital Media, Time, National Geographic, Aspen Institute, Media, Barack Obama, Madeleine Albright, Photoshop, Cnn, Ethics in Journalism, Condoleezza Rice, Ethics, Sport Illustrated, Media Literacy, Walter Isaacson, Washingtonian, Media News
Susan Moeller

Imagine you are Walter Isaacson. You are the president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, "a nonpartisan educational and policy studies institute based...

Read Post

Dessert Before Spinach?! Yes. When Serving Digital Literacy, Start with Dessert

Idit Harel Caperton | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Aspen Institute, Literacy, Education Reform, Digital Literacy, Innovation Economy, Learning, Blair Levin, Social Networking, Social Entreprenuer, Broadband Learning, Games and Education, Gaming, Social Network for Learning, Education Technology, Technology News, Charlie Firestone, Knight Foundation, Knight Commission, Walter Isaacson, Forum on Communications and Society, Education Innovation, National Broadband Plan, World Wide Workshop, Education News
Idit Harel Caperton

With today's social media, using literacy skills is like a dessert that can motivate kids to go on to the spinach.

Read Post

Aspen Institute and the McNulty Foundation: What's in a Prize?

John Danner | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Public Schools, Charter Schools, Rocketship Education, Aspen Institute, Failing Public Schools, McNulty Prize, McNulty Foundation, Acheivement-Gap, Education News
John Danner

I had the privilege of accepting the prestigious McNulty Prize, awarded by the Aspen Institute and the McNulty Foundation. This prize means big things to Rocketship Education, and I'm proud and excited by the opportunities it confers.

Read Post

Every Country Must Have a National Innovation Strategy

Azeem Ibrahim | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Aspen Institute, Uae, Growth, Innovation, Economy, Aspen, United Arab Emirates, Yousef Al-Otaiba, World News
Azeem Ibrahim

History shows that when government gets policy right, it helps an economy grow. Institutions and policies always matter in technological and economic development.

Read Post

Goodwill Supports Investing In An Education

Jim Gibbons | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Thinking to Action, Aspen Institute, Lumina Foundation for Education, Goodwill Industries, Jim Gibbons, Community College, President Obama, Goodwill Industries International, Goodwill, Skills for America's Future, c4, Healthy Living News
Jim Gibbons

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. One of the reasons I like it so much is because of football season. I used to play football before I sta...

Read Post

White House Plans Job Training Partnership

New York Times | CATHERINE RAMPELL | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Obama Job Training, Aspen Institute Job Training, Obama Jobs Program, White House Economic Policy, Obama Jobs, Jobs Crisis, Economic Crisis, Aspen Institute, Obama Economic Policy, Jobs, Job Training, Business News

As part of efforts to address record-high levels of long-term unemployment, President Obama plans to announce a new national public-private partnershi...

Read Whole Story