Aspen Institute Ascend Fellows
Gayatri Agnew
Walmart
Senior Director and Head of Accessibility
Arkansas
Carlos Alemán
¡HICA! Hispanic and Immigrant Center of Alabama
CEO
Alabama
Jovanna Archuleta
LANL Foundation
Early Childhood Community Outreach Director
New Mexico
Deana Around Him
Child Trends
Research Scholar
Maryland
Mia Birdsong
Next River
Executive Director
California
Clinton Boyd, Jr.
Chapin Hall & Fathers, Families, & Healthy Communities
Researcher & Executive Director
Illinois
Melanie Bridgeforth
Bridgeforth
Founder and President
Alabama
Zeke Cohen
Baltimore City Council
City Council President
Maryland
Janeen Comenote
National Urban Indian Family Coalition
Executive Director
Washington
Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock
US Senate
United States Senator
Georgia
Tony Gherardini
Department of Personnel and Administration for Governor Polis
Executive Director
Colorado
Ashley Goldon
Blue Meridian Partners
Portfolio Manager
Michigan
Gretchen Hammer
Mathematica
Senior Fellow
Colorado
Laura Huerta Migus
Ascend at the Aspen Institute
Director of Fellowship Alumni Engagement and National Activation & Impact
District of Columbia
William Jaeger
LOR Foundation
Strategic Initiatives Officer
Colorado
Myra Jones-Taylor
Jones-Taylor Strategies
Founder & CEO
District of Columbia
Pascual Maestas
Town of Taos, New Mexico
Mayor
New Mexico
C. Nicole Mason
Institute for Women's Policy Research
President Emerita
District of Columbia
Margaret McKenna
Boston Human Rights Commission
Chairwoman
Massachusetts
Alicia Mousseau
Oglala Sioux Tribe
Vice President
South Dakota
Vivian Nixon
Columbia Justice Lab Square One Project
Writer in Residence
New York
Michael Niyompong
Merage Foundations
Executive Director
Colorado
Roxana Norouzi
OneAmerica
Executive Director
Washington
Adrián A. Pedroza
Abriendo Puertas | Opening Doors
National Executive Director
New Mexico
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.