2025 Resnick Aspen Action Forum
In July 2025, over 500 leaders across the Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN) community gathered for our largest Action Forum to date.
Joined by nearly 100 young leaders, AGLN Fellows from more than 30 countries returned to the enduring questions first posed at at the founding of the Aspen Institute 75 years go: What does it mean to lead with purpose in times of profound uncertainty?
The week offered powerful moments of connection and insight:
Ambassador Martin Kimani (Africa Leadership Initiative – East Africa) and Lieutenant General Eric Wesley explored finding moral north under pressure, while Dr. Bernice A. King shared deeply personal reflections on courage and moral leadership. AGLN Fellows joined in candid conversations about ideological humility and the intellectual flexibility required to lead effectively in today’s complex context. We also witnessed the premiere of Nothing To See Here: Watts, welcoming the community filmmakers who achieved a 90% reduction in homicides through the transformative power of authentic storytelling and community dialogue.
Participants engaged in Impact Sessions addressing urgent global challenges—from health equity and peacebuilding to human rights and media change. We also launched AGLN Connect, a new mobile platform helping Fellows find each other worldwide and sustain the collaborations that began in Aspen.
As Fellows departed with clarity and strengthened bonds, the 2025 Action Forum reminded us that in times of greatest uncertainty, a better way forward takes collaboration, imagination, and bold action.
Explore the highlights, insights, and inspiring moments from this transformative gathering below.
On Resilience
Leading with Bold Imagination
Conviction & Consequence
Striving Toward a World Without Violence
Leadership Lessons from Making Bold Impact
From Dialogue to Action: The Making of Nothing to See Here: Watts
“It’s incredible the limitless potential… If you put committed, caring, empathetic and loving people in a room and they talk to each other and they listen to each other, magic is bound to happen.”
Chadia El Meouchi, Managing Partner, Badri and Salim El Meouchi Law Firm, Co-founder, Middle East Leadership Initiative (Henry Crown Fellowship)
Igniting Action
The Action Forum transforms reflection into commitment—inspiring Fellows to move from the question “What am I positioned to contribute?” to bold commitments of “Here’s what I will do.” In this space where timeless questions meet urgent challenges, leaders don’t just find clarity, they find the courage to act.
Refusing to Choose Between Animals and People
Healing from Trauma: Unlocking Somalia’s Potential
Working for People Over Power
“If we’re going to make the world a better place, we’ve got to change how we do deal with people who are different from us… get proximate, change narratives, stay hopeful, and do uncomfortable things.”
Christopher Varelas, Aspen Institute Trustee, Co-founder of the Aspen Finance Leaders Fellowship
A Vision for a New Haiti: Enriching Leaders, Community and Public Education
Creating a Resilient Workforce and a New Civic Fabric
Climate Solutions for and by Frontline Communities
Courage, Vision, Impact: The 2024 John P. McNulty Prize
Closing Conversations: Crossing Fault Lines for Transformational Change
The Darkness, the Light, and the Other
Opening Session: Finding Light
Healing the Planet and Ourselves
Remembering and Forgetting | Opening Remarks by Dar Vanderbeck
Plenary: Risking it All
The Art of Repair Around the World
Starsky Wilson on Servant Leadership
Courage, Solidarity, and Freedom: Stories from Nicaragua
Bayo Akomolafe on Embracing the Collective
Stay Connected
The 2025 Resnick Aspen Action Forum reminded us of the power that emerges when values-driven leaders come together to tackle our world’s most pressing challenges.
The conversations that began in Aspen continue. Stay engaged and connected.