Press Releases
For media inquiries or permission requests, please contact our Senior Director of Communications, Shilpi Niyogi (shilpi.niyogi@aspeninstitute.org), or our Communications Manager, Brendan Creamer (brendan.creamer@aspeninstitute.org).
![](https://ascend.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Lynette_Coney_3-768x512.jpg)
Lynnette Coney is a mother to three boys, ages four, eight, and 10. Lynnette grew up in foster care from 1992 to 2003, which endowed her with a strong...
![](https://ascend.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Rashika_Lee_1-768x511.jpg)
![](https://ascend.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Rashika_Lee_1-768x511.jpg)
Rashika Lee was born and raised in Grand Rapids, MI. She currently works for Spectrum Health on the Patient Liability Support Team and helps patients ...
![](https://ascend.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Lorena_Barton-768x512.jpeg)
![](https://ascend.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Lorena_Barton-768x512.jpeg)
Lorena is a single mother in the process of rebuilding her life. Though it has been challenging, she wouldn’t change a thing. Being a mother has not...
![](https://ascend.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Sydney_Martens-768x512.jpg)
![](https://ascend.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Sydney_Martens-768x512.jpg)
Sydney is currently a pre-law student. She spends most of her free time with her 22-month-old daughter Amiyah, painting, going for walks, and spending...
![](https://ascend.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Ariel-Family-2-scaled-1-768x398.jpeg)
![](https://ascend.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Ariel-Family-2-scaled-1-768x398.jpeg)
Ariel Ventura-Lazo is a first-generation American and the first in his family to attend college. He currently studies Business Management, and is ente...
![](https://ascend.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Lori_Anthony_Barr-1-768x505.jpg)
![](https://ascend.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Lori_Anthony_Barr-1-768x505.jpg)
Lori Barr and her son, Anthony Barr are the co-founders of Raise the Barr, a philanthropic organization focused on increasing opportunity and economic...