AYLF News
Planting Seeds
Prior to his experience with the Aspen Young Leaders Fellowship (AYLF), Nicholas Presley had no intention of settling down in his home state. “Being from Mississippi, you kind of want to leave Mississippi,” Presley, a former Fellow and Youth Facilitator with AYLF, which works with local youth ages 18-22 [...]
Connecting Through Leadership
When Georgianna Torres Reyes, an associate vice president at DePaul University serving as a facilitator with the Aspen Young Leaders Fellowship’s (AYLF) inaugural Chicago cohort, first logged onto a Zoom call in December 2020, she was not sure what to expect. Torres Reyes, similar to other AYLF program facilitators, had [...]
You Never Know What Lies Across the Ocean
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 to her first child, a boy, she named Michael. She was happy to also share [...]
Beyond the Shadows
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 power, influence, and growth that could come from such a simple place, my first day [...]
Changemakers
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 deeply curious about change and what it takes to make change happen — in their [...]
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 [...]
