Aspen Institute Ascend Fellows
Carlos Alemán
¡HICA! Hispanic and Immigrant Center of Alabama
CEO
Alabama
Cara Aley
Global Operations Consultant
Maryland
Kwame Anku
Black Star Fund
CEO and Chairman
California
Anthony Barrows
LIFT - New York
Executive Director
New York
Lelaine Bigelow
Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality
Executive Director
District of Columbia
Rashida Brown
Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner
District of Columbia
Melvin Carter
City of Saint Paul
Mayor
Minnesota
Karla Davis
Whole Child Strategies, Inc.
Operations/HR Director
Tennessee
Steven Dow
CAP Tulsa
Founder and Special Advisor
Oklahoma
Dara Eskridge
Invest STL
Executive Director
Missouri
Verónica Figoli
Accion Opportunity Fund
On Sabbatical
Colorado
Ciara Garcia
Social Venture Partners International
President and CEO
Arizona
Shimica Gaskins
GRACE & End Child Poverty CA
President & CEO
California
Tanguler Gray
Systems & Methods, Inc.
Executive Vice President of Operations
Georgia
Raquel Hatter
The Kresge Foundation
Managing Director
Michigan
John Hudson III
Entergy
Senior Vice President, Entergy Corporation | President, Entergy Charitable Foundation
Alabama
Kim Janey
Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath)
President & CEO
Massachusetts
Joseph Jones
Center for Urban Families
Founder and President & CEO of the Center for Urban Families
Maryland
Mark Kling
Nonprofit Consultant
Colorado
Andrea Levere
Capitalize Good
CEO
District of Columbia
Kirsten Lodal
LIFT
Founder and Senior Advisor
District of Columbia
Karla Maraccini
Deloitte Consulting
Government and Public Sector Professional
Colorado
Kerry McKittrick
Harvard University Project on Workforce
Director
Massachusetts
Georgia Mjartan
Central Carolina Community Foundation
President and CEO
South Carolina
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.