Aspen Institute Ascend Fellows

Cara Aley
Global Operations Consultant
Maryland

Kwame Anku
Black Star Fund
CEO and Chairman
California

Anthony Barrows
LIFT - New York
Executive Director
New York

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

Georgia Mjartan
Central Carolina Community Foundation
President and CEO
South Carolina

Wes Moore
State of Maryland
Governor of Maryland
Maryland

Aisha Nyandoro
Springboard to Opportunities
CEO
Mississippi

Lori Pfingst
Washington State Department of Social and Health Services
Senior Director
Washington
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.