Festival Speakers

Explore the Growing Lineup
2025 Festival Speakers
A
Music Director, Louisville Orchestra
Vice President of Operations, Homeboy Industries
B
Architect; Principal, Shigeru Ban Architects
Artist
Podcast Host, “Life in Seven Songs,” and Director of Special Projects, The San Francisco Standard
Distinguished Scholar in Residence, NYU School of Law; Attorney and Partner, Wilmer Hale; Podcast Host, “Stay Tuned with Preet” and “CAFE Insider”
Artist
CEO, Business Roundtable; Former Chief of Staff, George W. Bush White House
Founder, Homeboy Industries
Columnist, The New York Times; Chair, Weave: The Social Fabric Project, The Aspen Institute
Research Professor and Huffington Foundation Endowed Chair, Graduate College of Social Work, University of Houston; Visiting Professor in Management at The University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business
C
Philosopher; Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Chicago
Anchor, “The Saturday/Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart,” MSNBC; Associate Editor, The Washington Post
Professional Stock Car Racing Driver
Architect; Founder and Creative Director, Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU)
CEO, Gallup
Dean, Columbia Journalism School
Author; Podcast Host, “Kelly Corrigan Wonders”; Host, “Tell Me More with Kelly Corrigan,” PBS
LAPD Officer; Founder, Operation Progress; Co-Founder, Watts 2 Boston Foundation
Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research New York City; Visiting Professor, MIT Center for Civic Media; Senior Fellow, NYU Information Law Institute
D
Psychotherapist; Program Lead, Climate Psychology Certification, California Institute of Integral Studies
Professor of Psychology and Director, Social Emotions Lab, Northeastern University; Podcast Host, “How God Works: The Science Behind Spirituality”
President and Trustee, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation
Anchor, “CBS Evening News”
Founder and Artistic Director, Theater of War Productions
Professor and The Renee & U.S. Marine LCPl Bob Parsons Endowed Chair, Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley
President and CEO, Wellcome Leap
Fellow in International and Public Affairs, Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy, Brown University
E
Thomas Henry Carroll/Ford Foundation Professor, Harvard Business School; History and African and African American Studies Professor, Harvard University; Oppenheimer Director; Harvard Center for African Studies
Senior Game Designer, The New York Times
F
Executive Director, Sports and Society Program, The Aspen Institute
Story Editor, National and New York, Chalkbeat
Writer; Filmmaker; Host, “Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso” Podcast
Foreign Affairs Columnist, The New York Times; Author
G
Founder and Chair, Blessed Mother Family Foundation
Partner, Latham and Watkins
Co-Founder and Editor in Chief, The Dispatch
Actor, Company Manager, Digital Producer, Theater of War Productions
Dean and Doyle Rogers Distinguished Professor of Law, Belmont University College of Law; Former U.S. Attorney General
Professor of Physics and Mathematics and Director, Center for Theoretical Physics, Columbia University; Co-Founder, World Science Festival
H
Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership, New York University Stern School of Business
Director, National Economic Council
Founder, Justice for Murdered Children
Designer; Founder and Design Director, Heatherwick Studio
Artist
Owner, Taquería El Califa de León
Artist
Creative Director and Founder, Hood Design Studio
I
Leonard Lauder Professor of American History and Values, Tulane University; Distinguished Fellow, Aspen Institute
Author; Essayist
J
Artist; Writer
Founder and CEO, Salamander Collection
Writer and Host, "America, Who Hurt You?" Foment Productions
K
Founder and Co-Host, "What Could Go Right," Progress Network; President, River Twice Capital; Author
Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law and Co-Director, Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, Stanford Law School
Co-Founder and CEO, Pano AI
Paul and Patricia Saunders Professor of Law, Georgetown University; Attorney and Partner, Milbank
Professor, Geophysical Sciences, and Founding Faculty Director, Climate Systems Engineering Initiative, University of Chicago
Co-Host, “All Things Considered,” NPR; Author; Contributing Writer, The Atlantic
Educator, The Gourmandise School; Founder, The Santa Monica Chocolate Society
Founding Director, Philosophy and Society Initiative, The Aspen Institute
Architecture Critic, The New York Times
President, Environmental Defense Fund
L
Founder and CEO, Colossal Biosciences
Executive Director, Storm King Art Center
Co-Founder and CEO, Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE)
Editorial Director, New York Times Opinion
Philanthropist; Vice Chair, Partnership for Los Angeles Schools
M
Senior Counsel, Social Media Victims Law Center
President, NYSE Group
U.S Senator, Pennsylvania, Author, Superpower in Peril: A Battle Plan to Renew America; Former CEO, Bridgewater Associates
Designer; Artist
Co-Founder and CEO, Watch Duty
Editor in Chief, The Economist
Artist; Photographer; Filmmaker
Vice President; Executive Director, Ascend; and Co-Chair, Forum on Women and Girls, The Aspen Institute
N
Founder and Executive Director, Climate Mental Health Network
P
Executive Editor and Senior Vice President, The Associated Press
Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion, Princeton University; Author, “Miracle and Wonders: The Historical Mystery of Jesus,” Trustee, The Aspen Institute
Researcher, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
CEO of A.U.Fire; Former LAPD Gang Officer and Detective
President, Arts, Culture and Heritage, Chanel
Documentary Filmmaker; Journalist
Actor; Filmmaker; Co-Founder and Board Chair, Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE)
Managing Partner, Edward Jones
Henry A. Morss Jr. and Elisabeth W. Morss Professor of Studies of Women, Gender and Sexuality and African and African American Studies, Harvard University
Partner, KKR; Chair, KKR Global Institute; Former CIA Director; Retired Army General
Partner, Vice Chair, and President, Global Client Services, BDT-MSD Partners; Former U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor
Q
President and CEO, National Trust for Historic Preservation
R
Visual Artist
Author
Former U.S. Domestic Policy Advisor; Former U.S. National Security Adviser
Founder and Director, Digital Wellness Lab, and Founder and Co-Director, Clinic for Interactive Media and Internet Disorders, Boston Children's Hospital; Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
Jordan High School Basketball Head Coach; Former Grape Street Crip Gang Member
Vice President; Founder and Executive Director, College Excellence Program, The Aspen Institute
Host, Radio Atlantic; Senior Editor, The Atlantic
Senior Counselor, Centerview Partners; Former U.S. Treasury Secretary
Ambassador to the United States, Embassy of Australia
S
Climenko Fellow and Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School
Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government, Harvard University
Co-Hosts, "Vibe Check," SiriusXM Podcasts; Host and Executive Producer, "The Sam Sanders Show," KCRW and PRX
President and CEO, Wells Fargo & Company
Executive Director, Aspen Digital, The Aspen Institute
Principal, Selldorf Architects
Director of Public Affairs, Helion; Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council Global Energy Center
President and CEO, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Actress; Playwright; University Professor, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University
Creator and Lead Producer, “Nothing to See Here: Watts”; Director, FIGS
Founding President and CEO, Partnership for Public Service
Host, “Chutzpod” Podcast; Founder, Mixed Multitudes
Kissinger Professor of the Practice of Statecraft and World Order, Harvard Kennedy School of Government; Former National Security Advisor
T
Columnist and Editorial Board Member, Financial Times; Provost, King's College, Cambridge University
Assistant Professor of Psychology, Middlebury College
Founder, The On Being Project; Podcast Creator and Host, “On Being”
Founder and CEO, Next 3; Governor and Lead Owner, Gotham FC, National Women's Soccer League
Co-CEO, Homeboy Industries
V
Global Energy and Climate Innovation Editor, The Economist
Executive Director and Executive Producer, Aspen Ideas Festival, The Aspen Institute
W
Vice President and Executive Director, Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation, The Aspen Institute
Co-Founder, The Mattering Movement
Principal and Consultant, Wildfire Preparedness Services; Certified Wildfire Mitigation Specialist, West Metro Fire Rescue (CO)
Journalist; Host, “1A,” NPR
Chief Public Policy Officer, AARP
Gang Interventionist; Former Bounty Hunter Blood Gang Member
Chair, President, and CEO, The Allstate Corporation
Y
Partner, King and Spalding; Former U.S. Deputy Attorney General
Z
Journalist; Host, "Fareed Zakaria GPS," CNN; Columnist, The Washington Post; Author