Examine the World As It Is and Imagine It As It Could Be

What do Fellows do in AYLF?

When someone becomes a Fellow, they enter a global network of Aspen Institute Fellows and embark upon what is arguably the journey of a lifetime.

As an AYLF Fellow, you’ll spend the first 10 months gathering in seminars — a safe space for dialogue — with peers in your cohort and adult allies. You will explore ideas and issues from thinkers, artists, and other changemakers, within and beyond your community, who hold beliefs and carry dreams both similar and different from your own.

You will be challenged, and you will challenge yourself, in ways that balance honesty, passion, and courage with curiosity, empathy, and care.

You will contemplate, connect, collaborate, design, and ultimately deploy a Community Impact Project (CIP) with your cohort that addresses a need in your community.

It may not always be easy — adventures worth taking rarely are.

Don’t worry — you will have support. Our goal is to work together to ensure that when you begin, you have all you need to finish.

This is a time to invest in yourself, in your cohort, in your community, just as AYLF is investing in you and your leadership. You will become more equipped, capable, and confident in your ability to create the collective justice you seek and change you envision. Your voice and vision are invaluable, and we’re here to amplify them.

After your first year, AYLF is excited to build and scale a vision for platforms and opportunities for you to further develop and manifest your gifts and reach your goals. Be it seeking support to complete degrees, gaining professional certifications, launching your own business, navigating your career, or fostering change and justice within your world, we want to be there for you.

We can’t wait to travel with you, Fellows, on your inspiring journey.

Let the Journey Begin