Aspen Institute Ascend Fellows
Gayatri Agnew
Walmart
Senior Director and Head of Accessibility
Arkansas
Melanie Bridgeforth
Bridgeforth
Founder and President
Alabama
Jay Chaudhary
Sagamore Institute
Senior Fellow for Mental Health and Community Wellness
Indiana
Janeen Comenote
National Urban Indian Family Coalition
Executive Director
Washington
Craig Garfield
Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago/ Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine
Professor of Pediatrics and of Medical Social Sciences
Illinois
Jesús Gerena
UpTogether
CEO
California
Ron-Li Liaw
Children’s Hospital Colorado
Mental Health In-Chief, Cannon Y. & Lyndia Harvey Chair in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Chair of the Pediatric Mental Health Institute
Colorado
Alicia Mousseau
Oglala Sioux Tribe
Vice President
South Dakota
Christine Norbut Beyer
New Jersey Department of Children and Families
Commissioner
New Jersey
Aysha E. Schomburg
New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
President and CEO
New York
Rinku Sen
Narrative Initiative
Executive Director
Texas
Keesa Smith
Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families
Executive Director
Arkansas
Greg Taylor
National Basketball Association Foundation
Former Executive Director
New York
Ebony Underwood
WE GOT US NOW
Founder/CEO
New York
Joe Waters
Capita
Co-Founder and CEO
South Carolina
Atiya Weiss
Burke Foundation
Executive Director
New Jersey
Daniel Williams
Steelcase Foundation
President and CEO
Michigan
Daria Willis
Howard Community College
President
Maryland
Ascend Fellows are a community of values-driven leaders who share an unwavering commitment to our shared goal of intergenerational family prosperity and well-being.