Our team is devastated by the passing of our dear colleague, Melanie Diaz, who passed away on Saturday, February 18, 2023.
Melanie was 25 years old and had been part of The Aspen Institute for nearly two years, first as our Program Assistant, and more recently working on Aspen Ideas: Climate. She was originally from South Florida, graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and had interned at NASA, the Office of the Surgeon General, and the Beeck Center for Social Impact before joining our team. Melanie accomplished so much in her all-too-brief time on this planet.
More importantly than all of that though–Melanie was a truly kind, thoughtful, and caring human being. She took care of her coworkers and friends. She put others first. She checked in with each of us regularly to genuinely see how we were doing. She would go out of her way to comfort others during stress or difficult times. We know that she will be terribly missed by all who knew her.
