The Aspen Ideas Festival is pleased to announce the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival Fellows, a diverse group of over 130 leaders from all over the United States and 11 different countries who have been selected for their work, accomplishments and ability to transform ideas into action. They were nominated by senior members of the Aspen Institute’s staff, Festival advisors, previous Fellows and many others within the Aspen Institute’s broad network. At the Festival, these rising stars will bring forward innovative solutions to the complex problems discussed on our stages and join a vast network of past Fellows whose big ideas are making the world a better place.
These Fellowships are made possible by a group whose purchase of special Patron passes underwrites this important program. The Aspen Institute is proud to host these distinguished leaders and grateful to the Raikes Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Patrons and donors for their crucial support. Additional thanks to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and KIPP Foundation for their generous support in bringing Fellows cohorts to the 2024 Festival.
2024 Festival Fellows
Wemimo Abbey, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Esusu Inc.
Jamar Adams, Founder and Managing Principal, Essence Development
Queenstar Akrong, Founder, No Debt Degree; Senior Director, Whiteboard Advisors
Isimemen Aladejobi, CEO and Founder, Isimemen Consulting
Hadeil Ali, Director and Fellow, Diversity and Leadership in International Affairs Project, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Cesar Alvarez, Intergovernmental Affairs, Three Affiliated Tribes
Tre'vell Anderson, Chief Imagination Officer, Slayzhon
America Anaid Avalos Galindo, National Manager for Education and Family Philanthropy, Coppel Foundation
Daniel Barker, President and CEO, Halcyon
Veronica Barner, Renewables R&D Director, GE Vernova
Brianna Barrett, Playwright, Theater Masters
Gabriella Borter, U.S. National Affairs Correspondent, Reuters
Kristy Brooks-Olk, Interim Associate Dean, School of Business, Colorado Mountain College
Kaelani Rae Burja, Martin A. Dale '53 Fellow, Princeton University
Camila Caicedo, Associate Program Officer, Walton Family Foundation
Grace Caza, Chief of Staff, Supply Chain and Operations, GE Vernova
Jennifer Chen, Director of Virtual Programming, World Learning
Evelyn Chilomo, Chief Executive Officer, Lupiya
Justine Correa, Capital Strategies Senior Associate, Roanhorse Consulting, LLC
Cristina Davila, Urban Planner and Designer, AECOM
Philip DeCicco, Grant Writer, Justice at Work
Brianna Dimas, Chief Communications Officer, American Immigration Council
Petra Dzurovcinova, Innovation Lead, Takeda Pharmaceuticals
Mohammed Elshamy, Founder, ByBelo
Krizia Fernando, Founder and Co-Director, Femmecubator
Tina Fletcher, Senior Strategy Officer, Walton Family Foundation
Mycal Ford, COO, Black China Caucus Association
Brenna Fromayan, Strategy Manager, Walton Enterprises
Natalie Furlett, Senior Director of Member and Student Engagement, Campus Compact
Alex Garcia Bernal, Education and Events Manager, Garfield County Public Library District
Richmond Glasgow, Chief Corporate Counsel and Deputy Secretary, GE Vernova
Danielle Goonan, Managing Director, The Rockefeller Foundation
Keri Gray, CEO, NAMED Advocates
Kushal Gurung, Founder and CEO, WindPower Nepal
Daniel Harawa, Professor of Clinical Law, New York University School of Law
Jason Harris, VP Network Engineering, Comcast Business
Jawad Hosseini, Student, George Mason University
Abe Hudson, Program Officer (Arkansas-Mississippi Delta), Walton Family Foundation
Faisal Ishtiaq, Executive Director, Machine Learning, Comcast
Julia Izumi, Freelance Playwright, Theater Masters
Kemy J, Keynote Speaker, DEIB Executive Coach and Motivational Music Artist, Forever Free
Ambar Januel Lopez, CEO and Founder, Neta Collab
Onrei Josh Ladao, Program Coordinator for Operations and Engagement, Georgetown Scholars Program
Maria Solana Ledesma, Project Manager, Fundación Chaka Somos Puente
Elly Leman, Director of Institutional and Corporate Giving, Mikva Challenge
Jose Lopez-Nava, Diversion Manager, 8th Judicial District, State of Colorado
Jessica Luu Pelletier, Artist, Producer and Community Organizer, The Sống Collective
Katherine Mateo, Founder and CEO, Equity.
Kevin Matthews, Chief Facilitator, BuildingBread
Canaan McCaslin, Program Officer, Gates Foundation
Kelly Medina, Director, Family Resource Center of the Roaring Fork Schools
Hemakshi Meghani, Co-Founder, Indian School of Democracy
Jaimie Milner, Artist and Photographer, The Gifted Project
Brian Moran, Chief of Staff, Power Segment, GE Vernova
Brian Murray, CEO, Shift Capital
Brittany Murrey, Executive Vice President, Talent Solutions, Per Scholas
Viet Nguyen, Executive Director, EdMobilizer
Danielle Nicholson, Chief Operating Officer, A Call to Men
Sally Nnamani, Co-Executive Director, PeacePlayers United States
Laura Plunkett, Executive Director of Startup Engagement, Comcast NBCUniversal
Jennifer Principi, Senior Director, Comcast Creative Group, Comcast
Yasmin Ramirez, Head of Sales, Americas and Strategic Partnerships, Reuters
Lana Ramjit, Director of Operations, Clinic to End Tech Abuse, Cornell University
Andy Rector, SVP, Engineering, GE Vernova
Iliana Renteria, Independent Marketing and Outreach Professional
Lisa Maria Rhodes, Founder and Executive Director, ALAS
Kadeem Robinson, Director of Policy and Communications, New York City Council
Samuel Rodriguez, Founder and Executive Director, Walls For Justice
Elina Rodriguez, Senior Manager of Advocacy and Organizing, Community Economic Defense Project
Sofia Sanchez, Founder, Tule
Maggie Seldeen, Founder and Director, High Rockies Harm Reduction; Certified Peer and Family Specialist
Aryan Sharma, CEO, Induced
Natalie Sifuma, Head of Communications, SHE Changes Climate
Harman Singh, Executive Director, Sikh Coalition
Matthew Spikes, Senior Director, The Business Roundtable
Dillon St. Bernard, Founder, Amplify Pledge
Robert Stephenson, Artist in Residence, Mayor's Office of Policy and Innovation, Washington, D.C.
John Tannous, Senior Policy Advisor, City of Columbus, Ohio
Manuel Valverde, Senior Analyst, GAO
Jessica Vazquez, Business Advisor, Northwest Side CDC
Salma Villarreal, Associate Director, ourBRIDGE
Suhasini Vira, Senior Policy Advisor - International Climate and Nature, UK Government (Cabinet Office)
Ola Wadibia, Vice President, Global Diversity Equity and Inclusion, JPMorgan Chase
Rebecca Waite, Director, Data Analytics and Business Intelligence, Comcast
Echo Wang, U.S. Equity Capital Markets Correspondent, Reuters
Nikita Washington, Founder and CEO, Our Reimagining
Evan Weiss, President and CEO, Newark Alliance
Ben West (Cheyenne), Executive Director, Rena Flying Coyote Collective
Lesley Williams, Owner and Director, Lesley Donna Williams Consulting
Lena Wojciechowska, Project Coordinator, The Center for Citizenship Education
Tsione Wolde-Michael, Executive Director, President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities
Dylan Zajac, Executive Director, Computers 4 People
Eduarda Zoghbi, Climate and Energy Specialist, Climate Investment Funds
2024 Hispanic Scholarship Fund Cohort
Juan Bermudez, Deployment Strategist, Peregrine
Nathan Bolanos, Senior Associate, Medtech, Guidepoint
Graciela Garcia, Program Manager, Apple
Eric Gonzalez, Senior Analyst, Whitebark Investors
Claudia R. Horan, Assistant Vice President, Morgan Stanley
Monserrat Ibarra, Corporate FP&A, Snap Inc.
Monica Ochoa Porter, CST-100 Starliner Human Engineering Lead, The Boeing Company
Austin Regalado, HR Operations Program Manager, Google
Carolina Rojas, Principal, Distributed Ventures
Samuel (Alex) Sowell, Robotics Engineer, NASA
Samuel Tejeda, Civil/Structural Engineer, DOW Chemical
Vanessa Velasquez, Senior Advisor, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
2024 Ifill Cohort, in memory of Gwen Ifill
Tom Kludt, Contributing Editor, Vanity Fair
Sam Levine, Reporter, The Guardian
Clara Molot, Senior Editor, AIR MAIL
Tasneem Nashrulla, Breaking News Editor, Semafor
Nik Popli, Politics Reporter, TIME
2024 KIPP Accelerator Cohort
Twenewaa Adu-Oppong, Senior Director of Programs, Breakthrough Houston
Nyeka M. Artiaga, Special Education Teacher, KIPP SoCal
Sarah Bond, Analyst, Cambridge Systematics
Anthony Devon, Founder, Bedrock
Mayda Celeste Diaz Lehr, Graduate Student, KIPP
Bobby Hill, Lead Television Graphic Artist, SportsGrid
Monica Jew-Gonzalez, Workday Reporting Business Analyst, Kellogg Brown and Root
Cynthia Resendiz, Digital Marketing Manager, Baylor College of Medicine
2024 Raikes Foundation Cohort
Colleen Echohawk, CEO, Eighth Generation
Dara Eskridge, CEO, Invest STL
Maryam Laguna Borrego, Vice President for External Affairs and Chief of Staff, Miami Dade College
Tim Lampkin, Founder and CEO, Higher Purpose Co.
Derrick Lewis, Co-Founder and Chair of the Board of Directors, The Bronx Community Foundation
Senchel Matthews, Associate Director of Built Environment, Full Frame Initiative
Jahnavi Rao, President and Founder, New Voters
Adriana Sanchez, Director of Community Organizing, Latino Community Foundation
Jonah Toth, Founder and Executive Director, passion2action Youth Empowerment
Saul Valdez, Senior Program Officer, ECMC Foundation