Aspen Institute Ascend Fellows


Gayatri Agnew
Walmart
Senior Director and Head of Accessibility
Arkansas


Melanie Bridgeforth
Women’s Foundation of Alabama
President and CEO
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.