What becomes possible when Aspen’s Network of International Partners moves together? We’re beginning to see the answer as a new kind of collaboration takes shape.
Since 1974, the Aspen Institute has built a global network of 13 International Partners across 16 countries, bringing people together to take on the defining challenges of our time.
The Global Fund, launched this year and made possible by Miguel Bezos & Leonard Lauder, is designed to strengthen the network’s collective impact, scaling proven initiatives and fostering deeper collaboration across International Partners and Aspen U.S. programs.
What does that look like in practice? Its early work is already unfolding across continents.
In Ukraine, a collaboration between Aspen Challenge and Aspen Institute Kyiv
engaged nearly 300 young people in Bucha and Borodianka. Working in teams, they developed projects to support their communities, from a veteran reintegration hub fostering dialogue between youth and soldiers to a community-built app sharing shelter maps and emergency contacts, now used by more than 1,800 residents.
In Mexico, Aspen Institute México with the support of Aspen Institute Colombia brought together 24 leaders from diverse backgrounds to explore, through Socratic dialogue, the kind of society they want to build, while strengthening relationships and leadership along the way.
And across Africa and the UK, Aspen Institute UK and Aspen Initiative Africa-Nairobi convened mid-career leaders in diplomacy, trade, and international development, supporting them as they develop ideas they will carry forward in their work and communities.
Taken together, these efforts reflect something core to the Aspen Institute’s mission. The good society is not confined by geography, and neither is the work of building it. As new challenges emerge, our work continues to evolve, preparing leaders not only to navigate complexity but to help shape what comes next.
Around the Institute
Leadership Leading for the Common Good
Aspen Institute España
convened a colloquium on the sidelines of the Aspen Institute International Committee Meeting, focused on leadership in a rapidly changing global landscape. His Majesty King Felipe VI joined a discussion featuring Enrique Berruga, CEO of Aspen Institute México; Vivian Schiller, Executive Director of Aspen Digital; Pablo Hernández de Cos, General Director of the Bank for International Settlements, and Elliot Gerson, Former Vice President of Public Policy Programs and International Partners. Watch the recap.
Leadership Re-Imagining Global Development
At a moment of disruption and possibility, the Aspen Global Prosperity, Security, and Development High-Level Strategy Group convened leaders to explore what comes next for global development. This
new report outlines practical, country-centered pathways to drive inclusive growth, strengthen financing, and build a more effective and sustainable development
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Tech Cybersecurity in a Post-Mythos World
AI is pushing cybersecurity to an inflection point, accelerating existing threats and lowering the barrier for adversaries to exploit vulnerabilities. In this Aspen Digital paper
, experts provide questions executives can use to assess the strengths and gaps of their cybersecurity programs, and outlines practical technical steps to strengthen their defenses.
Leadership A New Platform for Peace and Democracy in the Western Balkans
The Aspen Institute Germany, Aspen Institute Italia
,
Aspen Institute Romania, and the Aspen Strategy Group launched a Transatlantic Collaboration Platform for Peace and Democracy in the Western Balkans, building a network to strengthen cooperation and advance regional stability. Participants developed six policy recommendations to guide collaboration among leaders in the Western Balkans, the European Union, and the United States. Read the report
here.
Ideas Introducing the 2026 Aspen Ideas Speaker Lineup
At a time of rapid change and global uncertainty, leaders from business, technology, public service, journalism, science, and the arts will come together for conversations that help make sense of the moment and shape what comes next at Aspen Ideas: Health (June 22 -25) and the Aspen Ideas Festival (June 25 - July 1).
Catch up on highlights from Bloomberg CityLab in Madrid, including key takeaways on urban innovation and leadership.
Janice Jackson, Executive Director of the Aspen Institute’s Education & Society Program, co-authored an op-ed in the Chicago Sun-Times on addressing chronic absenteeism in schools.
Kaya Henderson, Executive Vice President of the Aspen Institute and Executive Director of the Center for Rising Generations, wrote in the Michigan Chronicle about how Detroit students are developing solutions to improve their city through the Aspen Challenge.
In The New York Times, Tom Farrey, Founder and Executive Director of the Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Program, shares encouraging trends in youth sports participation.
MarketWatch quotes KC Boas, Retirement Initiative Lead at the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program, on new efforts to expand access to retirement plans.
