Sydney Patterson is the Communications Coordinator at the Aspen Institute Latinos and Society Program. She supports with content marketing and communications strategy for the program’s main initiatives. Since November 2023, Sydney interned with the Aspen Latinos Communications team and has recently transitioned to a full-time role.
Prior to joining the Aspen Institute, she spent time with the National Geographic Society and served as the point of contact for all things Executive Communications. She coordinated multilaterally with other departments towards the preparation for conferences like the United Nations Ocean Conference, Aspen Ideas Festival, Esri User Conference, and College of the Atlantic Summer Institute, which nurtured a passion for environmental advocacy as well as action-oriented dialogue. She also served as one of the primary speechwriters for the Chief Executive Officer, Jill Tiefenthaler’s bi-weekly note to staff and trustees. This internship was in partnership with the Emerson Collective which provided a unique network of youth interns across the National Geographic Society, George Washington University, and Smithsonian Institution to collaborate and share ideas.
Last year, she also led a team of young fellows in Denver, Colorado toward civic engagement practices through Rhizome, a non-profit encouraging high-school age students to activate their voices in democracy. Through regular guidance, structure, and resources, students worked on an assigned project called a Community Empowerment Event, where they showcased creative thinking about the issues in our society and how to create the solutions to address them.
Sydney graduated from Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida with a B.S. in Media Communication Studies and International Affairs.