Aspen Institute Ascend Fellows


Tess Abrahamson-Richards
Hummingbird Indigenous Family Services
Director of Data Sovereignty
Washington


Darneshia Allen
ZERO TO THREE
Training and Technical Assistance Integration Manager
Arkansas


Jamal Berry
Educare, DC
President and CEO
District of Columbia


Nia Bodrick
Children’s National Hospital
General Pediatrician
District of Columbia


Clinton Boyd, Jr.
Chapin Hall & Fathers, Families, & Healthy Communities
Researcher & Executive Director
Illinois


Sixto Cancel
Think Of Us
Founder & CEO
District of Columbia


Barbara DiGangi
University Settlement
Director of Community Wellness Initiatives
New York


Elizabeth Everett
First Five Nebraska
Deputy Director and Public Policy Manager
Nebraska


Shimica Gaskins
GRACE & End Child Poverty CA
President & CEO
California


Teresa Granillo
AVANCE, Inc.
CEO
Texas


Kai-ama Hamer
Center for Early Childhood Health and Development, NYU School of Medicine
Director, ParentCorps
New York


Keami Harris
Early Childhood Funders Collaborative
Chief of Equity and Strategy
Maryland


Kenn Harris
National Partnership for Community Leadership
Senior Consultant
Connecticut


Priya Iyer
Our Roots
Founder & CEO
California


Sarah Kuriakose
New York State Office of Mental Health
Associate Commissioner, Division of Integrated Community Services for Children and Families
New York


Vance Lewis
Promise Venture Studio
Associate Partner
California


Natalie Renew
Home Grown
Executive Director
Pennsylvania


Demetrius Starling
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
Senior Deputy Director
Michigan


Madeleine Thakur
The Children's Movement of Florida
President & CEO
Florida


Shannon Wanless
Office of Child Development, University of Pittsburgh
Executive Director & Associate Professor
Pennsylvania


Jennifer Wells
Community Change
Director of Economic Justice
Alabama


Chelsea Wesner
Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health, University of Colorado
Research Instructor
South Dakota
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.