
Stories featuring Generation Hope

In an Inside Higher Ed article, David Croom and Generation Hope provide important perspective into why the student parent population is important for higher education institutions to prioritize.

Today, Nicole Lynn Lewis is an accomplished author, CEO of Generation Hope, and mother of five. But she didn’t always feel a sense of stability and pride. When she arrived on campus with her three-month old daughter, she instantly felt out of place and didn’t know who to turn to for help. Her feelings of …
‘1 in 5’ Season 2 Episode 7: Learn About Generation Hope Read More »

In an op-ed written for Early Learning Nation, 2023 Ascend Parent Advisor, Mikah Jorgensen, shares her personal experience and expertise offering 5 ideas and recommendations for postsecondary institutions to make higher education more supportive of parenting students.

This year, the Aspen Idea Festival returns to in-person programming at our campus in the Rocky Mountains June 25 - July 1, 2022.

So our Ascend team was thrilled to host a virtual book talk with Nicole Lynn Lewis, author of Pregnant Girl: A Story of Teen Motherhood, College, and Creating a Better Future for Young Families.

After Yoslin had her first son, she knew she had to go to college and earn her degree to break her family’s cycle of poverty. During that time, she applied to become a Generation Hope scholar and has been part of their program for four years.

Rashika Lee was born and raised in Grand Rapids, MI. She currently works for Spectrum Health on the Patient Liability Support Team and helps patients understand billing and insurance.

Ariel Ventura-Lazo is a first-generation American and the first in his family to attend college. He currently studies Business Management, and is entering his senior year at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA.

Contact: Alexis Williams Ascend at the Aspen Institute alexis.williams@aspeninstitute.org Ascend at the Aspen Institute and The Jed Foundation Announce Partnership To Develop a Mental Health Framework Focused on Students who are Parents Based on results from a literature review released today, leaders will develop evidence-based resources and expert-informed recommendations to address the mental health …
Announcing: Ascend and JED’s Mental Health Partnership for Student Parents Read More »

This op-ed was published on September 3, 2020 by The Aspen Institute as a follow up to Yoslin Amaya Hernandez’s story from April 21, 2020. We thought this would all be over by summer. But with spring in the rearview mirror, it became clear that the warmer months would hardly bring respite. We were staring down a tunnel …
While Going Remote, Colleges Forgot That Many Students Are Also Parents Read More »

When I was attending the College of William & Mary as a teen mother, I was an anomaly. Not only because I was one of a very small group of Black students at the institution but also because I was raising my young daughter while putting myself through school. I saw more people who looked …
Making Student Parents the Norm Requires Facing Systemic Racism Read More »

As the hub for breakthrough ideas and collaborations that move children and their parents toward educational success and economic security, Ascend is intensifying its efforts in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic to highlight 2Gen solutions that Ascend Fellows and the Ascend Network have developed over the past decade to help families reach their potential. Ascend is examining how new solutions, …
WEBINAR: Supporting Student Parent Families in a Time of Crisis Read More »

This op-ed by Ariel Ventura-Lazo, an Ascend Parent Advisor for the Aspen Postsecondary Success for Parents Initiative and a Generation Hope Scholar, was published on March 30, 2020 by The Hechinger Report. I am busy. Under normal circumstances. As a parent, college student and program adviser, I work and attend class — while also coordinating drop-offs, pick-ups, bedtime …

A follow up op-ed by Yoslin Amaya Hernandez was published on September 3, 2020 by The Aspen Institute. As a full-time student and part-time employee, I have just one more thing on my plate to balance what most traditional students don’t have – kids. As a mom of two boys under five, you can imagine the hectic …

The Aspen Postsecondary Success for Parents (PSP) Initiative at Ascend at the Aspen Institute hosted a two-day convening to mark entering its second phase. More than 50 researchers, philanthropists, higher education administrators, policymakers, and student parents gathered at the Aspen Institute office in Washington, D.C. for a strategy session titled, “Postsecondary Completion: What Works for …
Postsecondary Completion: What Works for Parents Read More »
Convenings Featuring Generation Hope
Location: Virtual (Zoom)
Learn how Ascend Network Partners are using the two-generation (2Gen) approach across the country....
Location: Virtual (Zoom)
Ascend at the Aspen Institute and the Aspen Forum on Women and Girls are hosting a virtual book talk Wednesday, February 23, 2022 from 4-5PM ET with Nicole Lynn Lewis, founder and CEO of Generation Hope about her critically-acclaimed book Pregnant...