Marjorie Sims

Managing Director

Marjorie has more than 20 years of experience in advancing the status of women and families at local, state, national, and international levels. She formerly served as program officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation with a specific focus on family economic security programs and managed a $65M grant portfolio. Prior to joining the Kellogg Foundation, Sims held the positions of chief operating officer, interim president, and vice president of programs and operations at the Washington Area Women’s Foundation. During her tenure in Washington, Sims helped launch Stepping Stones, a $5 million, multi-year, regional initiative to increase the income and assets of women-headed families. Stepping Stones received national recognition as a model public-private partnership. In addition, Sims served as the executive director of the California Women’s Law Center and as a policy analyst with the International Center for Research on Women. She is a co-founder of Women’s Policy, Inc., an organization that emerged from the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues to provide unbiased analyses and educational briefings about federal legislation affecting women and families. Sims has additional expertise in expanding women’s philanthropy and managing leadership transitions.

Marjorie currently serves as Chair on the board of Springboard to Opportunities and as an advisor to the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) National Advisory Committee on State and Federal Systems Alignment to Improve Whole Family Approaches to Economic Mobility; the Transformative Consumer Research Executive Leadership and Social Impact Council; the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Ready to Learn initiative; and the Measuring SUCCESS Project: Technical Working Group.

Stories featuring Marjorie Sims

Pictured are Bobbi Acoff and her two adorable children, Damauree and Darnasia. Credit: Brighton Center
The Next Steps for Rigorous Research on Two-Generation Approaches project is one of the largest federal research investments in the two-generation (2Gen) approach. We sat down with three of these initiatives’ leaders to learn what results they’ve seen and to gather their insights and recommendations for other organizations as they progress on their 2Gen measurement and evaluation journeys.
Ascend NetworkOctober 2, 2023
This Campaign for Grade-Level Reading Week session discussed two-generation (2Gen) strategies to achieving improved outcomes for families.
Ascend NetworkJuly 19, 2023
The Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation Community Phase II sought to find and foster the most effective and innovative strategies to accelerate social and economic mobility for working families with low incomes. To do so, we elevated the voices and expertise of families with lived experience, were guided by 14 advisors, and we brought together 20 …

Innovations Abound to Advance Family Prosperity Read More »

Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation CommunityMay 3, 2023
Ascend at the Aspen Institute builds intergenerational family prosperity and well-being for children and the adults in their lives through a two-generation (2Gen) approach. This mean we intentionally and simultaneously focus on supporting children and the adults in their lives together. We center racial, gender, and economic equity in all our work along with the …

Meeting Young Parents in LA County Where They Dream Read More »

Ascend NetworkApril 27, 2023
In a blog post authored by Trene Hawkins of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Ascend's Managing Director Marjorie Sims shares how Ascend harnesses parent and caregiver leaders’ expertise to create policy and systems change in communities and organizations.
Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation CommunityApril 6, 2023
1 in 5 Student Parent Podcast
The 1 in 5 podcast vividly profiles students who are parents pursuing their education while raising a family and working. Today, more than one in five college students (22%) are parents. The experiences of students who are parents should not be unfamiliar or unheard, especially on college campuses. They’re in classrooms and clubs, working jobs and managing finances just like their peers.
BlogDecember 1, 2022
I started off the 2022 Aspen Ideas Festival at Aspen Words Book Ball, a passion project of Isa Catto and Daniel Shaw.
Ascend FellowshipJune 25, 2022
This year, the Aspen Idea Festival returns to in-person programming at our campus in the Rocky Mountains June 25 - July 1, 2022.
Ascend FellowshipJune 15, 2022
A commitment to rigorous learning and evaluation is fundamental to the implementation of a two-generation (2Gen) approach so that we’re measuring how well programs and policies serve the whole family. This is reflected in research being the first principle of a 2Gen approach, and it’s embedded in the day-to-day work of Ascend’s 450+ nationwide Network Partners. These visionary practitioners and systems …

From Proof Points to Building Evidence: Creating A Two-Generation (2Gen) Research Agenda Read More »

Ascend NetworkMarch 10, 2022
Anne Mosle and Marjorie Sims co-authored an op-ed in Penn Live/ Patriot News discussing the accomplishments of Ascend Network partners in Pennsylvania and present opportunities ahead to advance family well-being by centering families through two-generation (2Gen) approaches. We are at a moment in the nation – and in Pennsylvania – when a paradigm shift is in …

We’re entering a new era that will provide stronger support for struggling families in Pennsylvania Read More »

Ascend NetworkOctober 19, 2021
Two-generation approaches (2Gen) meaningfully engage and listen to families as equal partners in setting and achieving family goals. Family expertise and advice drive the design of two-generation policies, programs, and services. The voices and perspectives of people affected by policies and programs are essential elements of making them work. The words of parents and caregivers animate and reinforce what we learn from the data and the facts on the ground about these policies.
BlogAugust 3, 2021
In an op-ed co-authored by Aisha Nyandoro of Springboard to Opportunities and Trene Hawkins of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Ascend’s Marjorie Sims states the need to honor Black women with bold policies so that future generations can truly thrive. For even as we are achieve historic successes, racist and sexist systems, structures, and narratives persist and prevent our equity and dignity. …

Centering Black women in policy is key to future families’ prosperity Read More »

Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation CommunityJuly 26, 2021
A new report released today by Ascend at the Aspen Institute (Ascend) takes stock of the two-generation (2Gen) field. It analyzes what has been accomplished, the lessons learned, and the opportunities ahead with unprecedented federal expenditures in social policy. The report comes at a time when Americans are more fully recognizing that a system that tolerates social, racial, gender, and economic inequities is on unstable ground — and we are reckoning anew with the history of racism, sexism, and economic exploitation that built them into the foundation of our nation.
BlogJune 7, 2021
Aspen Trees
A two-generation (2Gen) approach builds family well-being by intentionally and simultaneously working with children and the adults in their lives together. Anchored in equity and informed by parents’ lived experience, 2Gen approaches aim to result in stronger and better outcomes for the entire family. For nearly a decade, state and local entities have leveraged various federal programs and …

Introducing the Aspen Two-Generation Coordinator Community of Practice Read More »

BlogJuly 13, 2020
Aspen Autumn
Dear Ascend Community: Ascend is committed to the work of anti-racism. Seeing and experiencing week after week what Black people and families go through, and the threat of violence they are subjected to on a daily basis, is completely unacceptable and must end. We stand against this ongoing oppression and the white supremacy that breeds …

Statement and Call to Action: Condemn Police Violence and Structural Racism Read More »

BlogJune 3, 2020

Convenings Featuring Marjorie Sims

Location: Zoom
To build capacity and evidence for two-generation (2Gen) approaches, the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) sponsored the Next Steps for Rigorous Research on Two-Generation...
ConveningOctober 26, 2023
Location: Virtual & In-Person in Washington, DC
Over the course of two days, our discussions focused on bold, equitable, and pragmatic strategies for building prosperity and well-being for all families. Sessions include insights from the latest two-generation (2Gen) family data, examples of...
ConveningApril 11, 2023 – April 12, 2023
Location: Washington, DC & Virtual
A decade into 2Gen 2.0, what have we learned about family outcomes, and what’s the research roadmap for organizations moving forward? This session will provide a sweeping analysis of what we’ve accomplished and what the agenda looks like for 2Gen...
ConveningApril 12, 2023
Location: Washington, DC & Virtual
On Day 1 we focused on what it takes to move the needle for families with low incomes. Join us for a robust Day 2, in which we will focus on bold, equitable, and pragmatic strategies for building prosperity and well-being for all families. Now is the...
ConveningApril 12, 2023
Location: Virtual
Please join us for a national briefing on a new, groundbreaking two-generation analysis of families with low incomes across the US. This new comparative analysis of 2011 and 2021 Census data, looking at children and the adults in their lives...
ConveningMarch 2, 2023
Location: Aspen, CO
From San Antonio to Boston and from Los Angeles to Cincinnati and thousands of communities between, the Power of Place is about unearthing collective purpose and capital. Hear from visionaries who zero in on historical traumas to rebuild trust and a...
ConveningJune 26, 2022
Location: Virtual (Zoom)
This discussion was one of more than 15 sessions from the 2021 Aspen Forum on Children and Families.
ConveningJune 8, 2021
Location: Virtual (Zoom)
Dr. Rohini Anand’s book, Leading Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Guide for Systemic Change in Multinational Organizations, offers five proven principles for organizations to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion with a nuanced...
ConveningJanuary 27, 2022
Location: Zoom
This discussion was one of more than 15 sessions from the 2021 Aspen Forum on Children and Families.
ConveningJune 8, 2021