Festival Speakers

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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”

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

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

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