For Immediate Release
Contact: Philip Javellana
Communications Manager
The Aspen Institute / Aspen Global Leadership Network
202-736-2919 | philip.javellana@aspeninstitute.org
Lynda and Stewart Resnick Provide $15 Million Endowment to Aspen Institute For Annual Convening of Global Leaders
Washington, DC, November 16, 2016 –– Lynda and Stewart Resnick, co-owners of The Wonderful Company, have provided a $15 million endowment to the Aspen Institute to ensure the continued operation of the Aspen Action Forum through 2030. An annual event that convenes leaders from across the United States and the world to combat today’s most pressing social issues, the Aspen Action Forum will be renamed the Resnick Aspen Action Forum for the 2016 convening.
“The Resnick Aspen Action Forum puts values-based leadership into action,” said Institute President and CEO Walter Isaacson. “This generous endowment ensures that the Forum will continue to make a real and measurable impact on key global issues for years to come.”
“This event is one of the few in the world that moves real change-makers from thought to action,” said Lynda Resnick, who is also a trustee of the Aspen Institute. “The outcomes of the Resnick Aspen Action Forum are tangible, and Stewart and I are excited to support it in this way.”
The five-day event, held every summer in Aspen, Colo., facilitates open dialogue, builds trust, and promotes action. Attendees are entrepreneurial leaders that come from over 40 countries, including China, India, South Africa, Jordan, Guatemala, and the United States, and many are Fellows in the Aspen Global Leadership Network, having participated in one of 14 geographic or sector specific fellowships associated with the Aspen Institute. They participate in workshops, interactive roundtable discussions, and networking opportunities that help them tackle critical issues in their communities, countries, and the world. But the Action Forum isn’t just about learning. Participants commit to take action. Each is asked to make public “Action Pledges” that address complex social issues.
Past Action Pledges include:
- Developing social and emotional learning skills to improve academic performance in more than 10,000 students in Los Angeles
- Fueling a leadership pipeline to propel young people from low-income, underrepresented backgrounds into positions of influence in the United States
- Curbing the practice of child marriage in northern Nigerian communities
- Supporting the education of 100,000 girls in India
- Building a sustainable manufacturing facility in the Midwestern United States
At the 2015 event, Lynda Resnick made an Action Pledge to benefit communities in California’s Central Valley, where most of The Wonderful Company’s workforce lives.
“I pledge to create and implement a holistic approach to wellness and health with a clearly defined road map for our employees and their families in the Central Valley of California,” said Resnick. “I further pledge to reduce incidence of obesity, disease, and stress in their lives.”
The Resnicks have provided major support for the Aspen Action Forum since 2013. In that time, over 1,000 participants from more than 40 countries have attended the event. The 2016 convening will take place July 18-22 in Aspen, Colo.
To learn more about the Resnick Aspen Action Forum, visit www.ResnickAspenActionForum.org.
The Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN) is a growing, worldwide community of entrepreneurial leaders from business, government, and the nonprofit sector — currently, 2,100 “Fellows” from 49 countries — who share a commitment to enlightened leadership and to using their extraordinary creativity, energy, and resources to tackle the foremost societal challenges of our times. All share the common experience of participating in the Henry Crown Fellowship or one of the dozen Aspen Institute leadership initiatives it has inspired in the United States, Africa, Central America, India, China, and the Middle East.
The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It also has offices in New York City and an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.
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