Leading Change for Skills: Champions Across the Workforce Ecosystem
The Aspen Institute’s Economic Opportunities program hosted a webinar titled “Leading Change for Skills: Champions Across the Workforce Ecosystem,” featuring Leah Palmer of the Arizona Advanced Manufacturing Institute and Tiffany Mangum of Beyond Housing Foundation. The session highlighted how cross‑sector collaboration can reshape talent development, moving beyond traditional degree requirements toward skills‑based pathways. Palmer detailed a “quick‑start” semiconductor training model that runs two four‑hour daily sessions over two weeks, offering morning or evening slots to accommodate families. The program is stackable, provides industry‑validated badges, and has served over 300 participants, with 1,300 applicants. Notably, 32% of trainees are women, 55% are first‑generation college students, and Latino representation is unusually high, illustrating a deliberate push for equity. Mangum described an internal cultural audit at Beyond Housing that revealed low morale, high turnover, and a lack of inclusivity. By addressing these findings—hiring a chief diversity officer, redesigning leadership structures, and prioritizing staff voice—the organization lifted employee satisfaction to 90% and stabilized its workforce. Both leaders emphasized the importance of aligning training, hiring, and organizational culture. These examples show that flexible, industry‑partnered training combined with intentional cultural reforms can expand the talent pipeline, diversify high‑tech and housing sectors, and improve economic mobility. Replicating such models could help other regions close skill gaps while fostering more inclusive workplaces.
Gabe Fleisher on Values-Driven Journalism | B:Sides: The Deeper Side of Leadership
In this Aspen Institute interview, Gabe Fleisher recounts how a morning email to his mother at age nine evolved into Wake Up to Politics, a daily newsletter now read by 50,000 subscribers, including policymakers in Washington. The conversation highlights Fleisher’s...
EOP: Reimagining Workforce and Economic Development in the South
The Aspen Institute’s Economic Opportunities Program convened a panel of Job Quality Fellows to rethink workforce and economic development in the Southern United States. The conversation, part of a broader "Fixing Work in the South" series, highlighted a growing...
Registration Is Open for Aspen Ideas: Economy
Aspen Ideas is opening registration for its Economy conference, a three‑day gathering in Tulsa that will examine how emerging technologies, housing dynamics and social media reshape the U.S. economy. Organizers stress that affordability, growth, inclusion and stability are top of agenda,...
Book Talk: A Life in the American Century
The video is a book‑talk interview with Joe, a distinguished Harvard professor and former U.S. national‑security official, promoting his new memoir *A Life in the American Century*. Hosted by NV King of the Aspen Security Forum, the conversation weaves personal...
The New Science of Women’s Brain Health: How Menopause Shapes Memory, Mood, and Cognitive Function
The Aspen Institute’s Advancing Women’s Health series featured Dr. Emily Jacobs, a UCSB neuroscientist, who outlined the emerging field of women’s brain health, emphasizing how menopause reshapes memory, mood, and cognition. She framed the discussion within a historic context of...
Maximizing the Value of Internships for Employers
The Aspen Institute’s Upskill America and Strata Education Foundation hosted a webinar unveiling new research on how employers can extract tangible business value from internships and other work‑based learning models. Based on more than 40 in‑depth interviews across sectors and organization...
Aspen Ideas: Climate Launch Event - "The Heartland’s Power Play"
The Aspen Institute launched its second Aspen Ideas Climate gathering in Chicago, framing the Midwest as the next American century’s engine for energy, agriculture, water and transportation innovation. Speakers highlighted the region’s unique blend of clean‑energy research, food systems,...
Main Street Challenges and Policy Solutions
The panel convened by Louis Caditz‑Peck examined the financing hurdles confronting Main Street firms, featuring yarn entrepreneur Karida Collins, NCRC President Jesse Van Tel, and American FinTech Council director Ashley Urismaan. Collins described a decade‑long financing saga that included a $1,000...
In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face-to-Face with the Idea of an Afterlife
Journalist and filmmaker Sebastian Junger recounts his near‑death experience in the new book “In My Time of Dying.” He describes how confronting mortality forced him to reevaluate consciousness, fear, and survival instincts. The narrative ties his personal ordeal to broader...