![Aif2022 Samuelson Judy](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/27eb6c90-f291-4de6-a52a-cb8237b093d0/AIF2022_Samuelson_Judy.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C4651%2C4651&w=290)
Judy Samuelson
Vice President and Executive Director, Business and Society Program, The Aspen Institute
Judy Samuelson is a vice president and founder and executive director of the Business and Society Program at the Aspen Institute. Signature programs under her leadership include a 10-year campaign to disrupt Milton Friedman’s narrative about corporate purpose, the Aspen Principles of Long-Term Value Creation and a partnership with Korn Ferry to rethink executive pay. Samuelson previously worked in legislative affairs in California and banking in New York’s garment center, and she ran the Ford Foundation’s office of program-related investments. The author of “Six New Rules of Business: Creating Real Value in a Changing World,” she blogs for Quartz at Work. Samuelson is also a Bellagio Fellow and a director of the Financial Health Network.
Previously
![Pushback: The Perils (and Power) of Corporate Commitments](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/4740a973-6c0d-4f57-9c35-796fdd369fa2/53823862693_2b19d6cc7e_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C1453%2C3100%2C1744&w=400)
With ESG caught in the political culture wars, business executives must decide to speak up or stay quiet about climate, diversity and democracy. What do employees and citizens...
![ESG: Where Do We Go From Here? A Conversation from the Frontlines of Business](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/a89cfc38-f5bf-4fe8-8cc8-fec8ec1baeae/230628_esg_017.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C4000%2C2251&w=400)
How are business leaders navigating rising expectations from employees, investors, customers, and communities in a fractured political environment, while progressing on the lo...
![The ESG Debate: Does ESG Investing Help People and Planet?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/a4ac3f2c-368d-4d13-9005-b0a4151158c5/52738902632_60ef8aa0c8_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C5392%2C3032&w=400)
This discussion will clarify the ESG concept, explore critiques from left, right, and center, and offer individual investors guidance on meeting their sustainable investing go...
![Investing in Democracy – Is There a Role for Business?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/bba69087-fa17-4321-8f73-6bb4eeffaa17/52184048858_0007ffb103_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=2343%2C1094%2C3888%2C2178&w=400)
It is common wisdom: Inequality is terrible for democracy. What choices exist for executives seeking to invest in democracy and its institutions? The idea that business leader...
![Can Business Choose Shared Prosperity?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null5f0e9086-7ac8-424b-9496-19c325ba6fc1/48144663221_6bc0e69ad0_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C166%2C1600%2C901&w=400)
Business is the job and wealth creator—but even in an era of record-low unemployment, inequality in America continues to grow. Are there choices points for business? Which a...
![The 21st Century CEO: It’s Not All the Bottom Line](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/c99871d2-5c80-4eb6-a026-6a1151035523/42205086775_b4ef18f286_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C118%2C3000%2C1687&w=400)
Activist investors, and active employees. Climate change and drought. Battles over trade—and by #tweet. When public anxiety drives low trust, who’s on the speed dial of top bu...
![When CEOs Speak Out](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/e56b5e7e-8e29-46da-9bfd-e6e4c978fbe3/42391149764_74844e54da_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=211%2C0%2C2604%2C1465&w=400)
On provocative topics from immigration to gender equality to gun control, corporate leaders are stepping into the public sphere like never before. Just a few years ago, highly...
![What Constitutes a 'Good Job', and How Can We Create More of Them?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null6c9ff92d-dd36-4e1a-b276-01a8a33d25c4/35422817862_5a4adfc675_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C37%2C1600%2C899&w=400)
“Our people are our most important asset” is a common refrain from the C-suite — but does the walk match the talk? For decades, working Americans have seen rising living expen...
![Accounting or Aristotle: How Undergraduates View Their Future](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nullc5927628-0e32-4fea-9133-b90a5b1a0db9/27685595300_4e392b3767_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C1600%2C899&w=400)
Roughly one in four students choose business as their undergraduate major in the US, making business the most popular academic pursuit. While business majors excel in the post...