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Rinku Sen

Executive Director

Narrative Initiative

Aspen Institute Ascend Fellow Alumni 2021 Cohort 5

Round Rock, Texas

Rinku Sen is the Executive Director of Narrative Initiative. She is formerly the Executive Director of Race Forward and was Publisher of their award-winning news site Colorlines. Under Sen’s leadership, Race Forward generated some of the most impactful racial justice successes of recent years, including Drop the I-Word, a campaign for media outlets to stop referring to immigrants as “illegal,” resulting in the Associated Press, USA Today, LA Times, and many more outlets changing their practice. She was also the architect of the Shattered Families report, which identified the number of kids in foster care whose parents had been deported. Her books Stir it Up and The Accidental American theorize a model of community organizing that integrates a political analysis of race, gender, class, poverty, sexuality, and other systems. As a consultant, Rinku has worked on narrative and political strategy with numerous organizations and foundations, including PolicyLink, the ACLU and the Nathan Cummings Foundation. She serves on numerous boards, including the Women’s March, where she is Co-President and the Foundation for National Progress, publisher of Mother Jones magazine.

Stories Featuring Rinku Sen
May 25, 2023
Announcing Ascend Fellowship Impact Fund Awardees for the Class of 2021
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May 2, 2023
Discovering Ubuntu in South Africa
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June 15, 2022
Ascending at the 2022 Aspen Ideas Festival
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January 21, 2022
Aspen Institute Announces 2021 Ascend Fellows
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October 7, 2021
Meet the Leaders Taking Action for Families in America
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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.