• Students on Mountain Top GCY Opportunity 2024

    Travel to Africa

    Mickeeya Harrison, AYLF Staff

    I received a message last week on my LinkedIn account from Stella, a friend that I met while in Ghana when I was 16 years old. She messaged to share that she gave birth [...]

  • My Journey as an Aspen Young Leaders Fellow

    By Dante Apaéstegui, Senior Fellow and Seminar Facilitator

    I walked into Ackerman Hall in Newark, New Jersey, saw my name on a crisp white table tent, smiled, and sat down. Looking around the large square table, I did not yet realize the [...]

    Dante walking and talking with other fellows
  • 4 fellows speaking at AYLF

    Our Senior Fellows Are the Change They Want to See

    By Natalie Travers

    AYLF works with our fellows over the course of five years — one year of intensive leadership development, followed by four years of ongoing support through the AYLF network. Our fellows tend to be [...]

fel•low•shipcol•lab•o•ra•tioncu•ri•os•i•tychange•ma•ker

Cultivate curiosity and courage.
Explore ideas. Collaborate in community.
Be a Fellow.

Our Why

Only 32% of youth have access to leadership development programs by age 25. 1

Only 50% of colleges and universities offer formal leadership programming despite evidence that it contributes to college persistence. 2

AYLF invests directly in young adult change makers in the communities where they live and lead.

Our Why

Only 32% of youth have access to leadership development programs by age 25. 1

Only 50% of colleges and universities offer formal leadership programming despite evidence that it contributes to college persistence. 2

AYLF invests directly in young adult change makers in the communities where they live and lead.

Key Results

97%

5-year college
graduation rate

96%

job placement rate
among Fellows who
completed year one

100%

learning gains from
50th to 85th-90th
percentile

95%

increased civic engagement
behaviors to the 95th
percentile of youth
nationally

247

fellows

14

cohorts

Our Network

Chicago, Illinois

Mississippi/Arkansas Delta

Miami, Florida

Newark, New Jersey

St. Louis, Missouri