Aspen Ideas Festival 2026

Aaron Parnas

Independent Journalist; Author, The Parnas Perspective

Abayomi Lewis

Singer; Poet; "American Idol" Contestant

Abraham Loeb

Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science, Harvard University

Adam Lowe

Director, Factum Arte; Founder, Factum Foundation for Digital Technology in Preservation

Alberto Gonzales

Former U.S. Attorney General; Dean and Doyle Rogers Distinguished Professor of Law, Belmont University College of Law

Alex Adkisson

Teacher, Green Mountain High School; Educational Consultant., Contextual Learning Concepts

Alicia MacHale

Senior Business Analyst, Mphasis Silverline; Alum, Merit America

Allan Mutchnik

President, Harbor Freight Tools; Board Director, The Smidt Foundation

Allison Schrager

Senior Fellow, The Manhattan Institute

Alvin Graylin

Digital Fellow, Stanford Institute of Human-Centered AI; Senior Fellow, Asia Society Policy Institute Center for China Analysis; Chairman, Virtual World Society

Amy Harder

National Energy Correspondent, Axios

Amy Saidman

Founder and Artistic Executive Director, Story District

Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson

CEO Editor, Semafor

Andrew Evans

Magician; Mentalist; Founder, The Magic Patio

Aneesh Sohoni

CEO, Teach For America

Angela Buchdahl

Rabbi, Central Synagogue, New York City

Angie Cooper

President, Heartland Forward

Anne Amienne

Founder and Director, Scholars & Writers

Anne Mosle

Vice President and Founder and Executive Director, Ascend, Aspen Institute; Co-Chair, Aspen Institute Forum on Women and Girls

Anthony Hesselius

Executive Producer, Aspen Institute Public Programs

Anu Lala

Professor of Medicine, Cardiology and Population Health Science, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai

Ariel Ekblaw

Founder and CEO, Aurelia Institute

Asha Curran

CEO, Giving Tuesday

Asle Toje

Deputy Leader, Norwegian Nobel Committee

Autumn Martin

Global KCS Program Manager, Lytx; Alum, Merit America

Ayşedeniz Gökçin

Pianist; Composer; Founder, Borderless Piano Academy

Beatriz Cortez

Artist; Professor, University of California, Davis

Beau Baird

State Representative (R-IN)

Becca Kearl

Executive Director, Living Room Conversations

Benedict Macon-Cooney

Chief AI and Innovation Officer, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change

Benjamin Ginsberg

Volker Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Co-Chair, Pillars of the Community

Betsey Stevenson

Professor of Public Policy and Economics, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan; Former Member, Council on Economic Advisors

Betsy Cooper

Director, Aspen Policy Academy, Aspen Institute

Betsy Fleming

Founder, Cressence Ventures; Host, "Kick-Ass Women of the Carolinas" Podcast

Brendan Carr

CEO, Mount Sinai Health System

Brian Grazer

Founder and Chairman, Imagine Entertainment

Brian Hooks

Chairman and CEO, Stand Together

Bryan Doerries

Co-Founder and Artistic Director, Theater of War Productions

Calley Means

Senior Advisor, The White House and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Campbell Brown

Co-Founder and CEO, Forum AI

Carlos Carvalho

President, University of Austin

Carol Quillen

Former President and CEO, National Trust for Historic Preservation

Caroline Shaw

Singer; Musician; Composer

Carolyn Tisch Blodgett

Founder and CEO, Next 3; Governor, Gotham FC; Co-owner, New York Giants

Carrie Walton Penner

Co-Owner, Denver Broncos; Founder, Fiore Ventures

Cava Lee Menzies

Musician; Artist; Creative Director, Oakland School for the Arts; Founder and Director, CO-LLAB Choir

Charles Harding

Music Journalist; Co-Host, "Switched on Pop" Podcast

Charles Limb

Francis A. Sooy Endowed Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery; Chief of Otology, Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery; and Director, Sound and Music Perception Lab,...

Charles Q. Brown, Jr.

Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; Executive-in-Residence, Sanford School of Public Policy and Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University

Charles Yang

Violinist; Composer

Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah

Multi-Instrumentalist; Composer; Designer; Founder and CEO, Stretch Music

Chiling Tong

President and CEO, National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship

Chris Eisgruber

President, Princeton University

Chris Womack

Chairman, President and CEO, Southern Company

Christian McBride

Musician; Host, NPR's "Jazz Night in America"; Artistic Director, Jazz Aspen Snowmass Academy

Christina Voros

Director, Producer, Cinematographer

Christine E. Wormuth

President and CEO, Nuclear Threat Initiative

Chuck Sams

Director, Indigenous Programs, Yale Center for Environmental Justice; Former Director, U.S. National Park Service

Colleen Sinzdak

Supreme Court and Appellate Partner, Milbank

Connor Diemand-Yauman

Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Merit America

Corby Kummer

Executive Director, Food and Society Program, Aspen Institute

Cornelius Wills

Gang Interventionist and Mentor, Soledad Enrichment Action; Filmmaker, "Nothing to See Here: Watts"

Cynthia McFadden

Former Senior Legal and Investigative Correspondent, NBC News

Dacher Keltner

Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Co-Director, Greater Good Science Center,, University of California, Berkeley; Author, "Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and H...

Damian Woetzel

President, The Juilliard School

Dan Porterfield

President and CEO, Aspen Institute

Dan Smoot

CEO, Vantor

Dan Wang

Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University

Danielle Allen

James Bryant Conant University Professor, Harvard University

Danni Lee Parpan

Singer-Songwriter

Danny Harris

Executive Director, Socrates Program, Aspen Institute

David Bohigian

CEO, Meridian International Center

David DeSteno

Professor of Psychology and Director, Social Emotions Lab, Northeastern University; Podcast Host, "How God Works: The Science Behind Spirituality"

David French

Columnist, The New York Times

David Holt

Mayor, Oklahoma City

David Leonhardt

Editorial Director, The New York Times

David Strathairn

Film, Television and Theater Actor

DeAngela Burns-Wallace

President and CEO, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

Derek Kilmer

Senior Vice President, U.S. Program and Policy, The Rockefeller Foundation

Derek Wang

Creative Enterprise Fellow, The Juilliard School

Diane Brady

Executive Editorial Director, Fortune

Donald Cravins, Jr.

President and CEO, National Minority Supplier Development Council

Eddie Glaude

James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of African American Studies, Princeton University

Eden Vardy

Founder and Executive Director, The Farm Collaborative

Eimear Kenny

Director, Institute for Genomic Health, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai

Elizabeth Kelly

Head of Beneficial Deployments, Anthropic

Elizabeth Oldfield

Journalist; Host, "The Sacred" Podcast

Emma Ashford

Senior Fellow, Stimson Center

Emma Bloomberg

Founder and CEO, Murmuration

Eric Johnson

Mayor, City of Dallas

Fanny Elahi

Associate Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience, and Pathology, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai Health System

Fidel Vargas

President and CEO, HSF

Francesca Ioffreda

Chief Innovation Officer, Executive Office of Governor Wes Moore, State of Maryland

Francesca de Quesada Covey

Vice President, Community Impact, Knight Foundation

Frederick Riley

Executive Director, Weave: The Social Fabric Project, The Aspen Institute

Gillian Tett

Columnist and Editorial Board Member, Financial Times; Provost, King's College, Cambridge University

Glenn Kaino

Artist; Filmmaker

Greg Bulanow

Leadership Development Coordinator, South Carolina State Firefighters' Association

Hanne LeCount

Executive Director, Concordia

Harold O'Neal

Pianist; Composer; Recording Artist

Hasan Malik

Chief Strategy Officer, Edward Jones

Heather Gerken

President, Ford Foundation

Helen Toner

Executive Director, Center for Security and Emerging Technology, Georgetown University

Ian Brzezinski

Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council

Ida Rademacher

Vice President; Co-Executive Director, Financial Security Program and Co-Chair, Aspen Partnership for an Inclusive Economy; Aspen Institute

Jack Goldsmith

Learned Hand Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

Jaime Magyera

Head of U.S. Wealth Advisory and Head of Retirement, BlackRock

Jake Sullivan

Co-Host, "The Long Game" Podcast; Kissinger Professor of the Practice of Statecraft and World Order, Harvard Kennedy School

Janai Nelson

President and Director-Counsel, Legal Defense Fund

Jane Harman

Former Member, U.S. House of Representatives; President Emerita, Woodrow Wilson Center

Jane Kamensky

President and CEO, Thomas Jefferson's Monticello

Jane Wales

Vice President and Executive Director, Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation, Aspen Institute

Janti Soeripto

President and CEO, Save the Children US

Jared Polis

Governor, State of Colorado

Jason Bordoff

Professor of Professional Practice and Founding Director, Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs; Co-Founder and Dean E...

Jason Buechel

Vice President, Amazon Worldwide Grocery Stores, and CEO, Whole Foods Market

Jason Wright

Managing Partner and Head of Investments, Project Level, Ariel Investments

Jeff Flake

Founding Director, Institute of Politics, Arizona State University; Former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Former U.S. Senator (R-AZ)

Jeffrey Rosen

CEO Emeritus, National Constitution Center; Professor of Law, George Washington University Law School; Contributing Editor, The Atlantic

Jeh Johnson

Former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security; Chair, Board of Trustees, Columbia University

Jelani Cobb

Dean, Columbia Journalism School

Jenn White

Journalist; Host, "1A," NPR

Jennifer Arceneaux

Senior Director, Emerson Collective

Jerusalem Demsas

Founder, CEO and Editor in Chief, The Argument

Jim Baker

Senior Fellow for Strategic Competition, Council on Foreign Relations

Jinhee Kim

Executive Vice President, Public Events and Engagement

Joanna Smith-Ramani

Co-Executive Director, Financial Security Program, Aspen Institute

Joanna Stern

Chief Technology Analyst, NBC News; Author, "I Am Not a Robot"

Jodie Foster

Actor; Filmmaker

Joe Preston

President and CEO, New Balance

John Dickerson

Contributing Writer, The Atlantic; Former Co-Anchor, "CBS Evening News"

Jon Clifton

CEO, Gallup

Jon Finer

Senior Distinguished Fellow in Residence, Tsai Leadership Program, Yale Law School; Co-Host, "The Long Game" Podcast

Jonathan Capehart

Co-Host, MS NOW's "The Weekend"

Jonathan Holloway

President and CEO, Henry Luce Foundation

Josh Wyner

Vice President, Founder and Executive Director, College Excellence Program, Aspen Institute

Joshua Redman

Jazz Saxophonist; Composer

Joshua Seftel

Filmmaker; Director, "All the Empty Rooms"

Judy Samuelson

Vice President and Executive Director, Business and Society Program, Aspen Institute

Julian Gewirtz

Senior Research Scholar, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University; Senior Fellow, Asia Society Center on U.S.-China Relations

Karen Brunwasser

Co-CEO, FeelBeit

Karen Kerrigan

President and CEO, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

Karim Sadjadpour

Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Kate Snow

Senior National Correspondent, NBC News

Katherine Wellington

Partner, Hogan Lovells

Katie Albright

Executive Director, Equity and Excellence in Early Childhood, University of California, Berkeley; Senior Advisor, Alliance for Community Advocacy

Kayla Young

State Delegate, Minority Leader Pro Tempore (WV-D)

Kim Ghattas

Contributing Editor, Financial Times; Contributing Writer, The Atlantic

Kirsten Gillibrand

U.S. Senator (D-NY)

Kori Schake

Senior Fellow and Director, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute

Krishna Jonnalagadda

Chief Technology Officer, GE Vernova

Kristen Scholer

Correspondent and Moderator, NYSE

Lael Brainard

Distinguished Fellow, Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy, Georgetown University; Former Director, National Economic Council

Lara Downes

Pianist

Larry Fink

Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, BlackRock

Laura Huerta Migus

Director, Fellowship Alumni Engagement and National Activation and Impact, Ascend, Aspen Institute

Lauren Hirsch

Reporter, The New York Times

Laurie Richardson

Vice President, Trust and Safety, Google

Layla Zaidane

President and CEO, Future Caucus

Leyla McCalla

Singer-Songwriter; Musician

Lisa Abramowicz

Co-Host, "Bloomberg Surveillance," Bloomberg Television

Mai Ide

Multidisciplinary Artist

Manish Bapna

President, Natural Resources Defense Council

Maria Tarajano Rodman

Executive Director, Valley Settlement

Marion Nestle

Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, New York University

Mark Dubowitz

CEO, Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Martha Jones

Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor, Professor of History, Professor at the SNF Agora Institute, and Director of Graduate Studies, Johns Hopkins University

Martin Whittaker

CEO, Just Capital

Mary Louise Kelly

Host, "All Things Considered," NPR; Author; Contributing Writer, The Atlantic

Matt Helmer

Director, Job Quality and Worker Well-Being, Economic Opportunities Program, Aspen Institute

Matthew Gianneschi

President, Colorado Mountain College

Matthew Kroenig

Vice President for Geostrategy and Senior Director, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council

Matthew Lister

Partner; Managing Director of the Americas, Gehl

Matthias Berninger

Executive Vice President, Public Affairs, Sustainability and Safety, Bayer

Maya Kornberg

Senior Research Fellow and Manager, Elections and Government Program, Brennan Center for Justice, New York University

Megan O'Grady

Critic; Essayist; Author, "How It Feels to Be Alive: Encounters with Art and Our Selves"

Meghan O'Sullivan

Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School; Former Deputy National Security Adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan

Meghan Sullivan

Director, Institute for Ethics and the Common Good, University of Notre Dame

Melanie Choukas-Bradley

Nature and Forest Therapy Guide

Melanie Hart

Senior Director, Global China Hub, Atlantic Council

Melissa Lott

Partner, Energy Technology, Microsoft

Melissa Murray

Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law, New York University School of Law

Michael Froman

President, Council of Foreign Relations

Michael Livermore

Class of 1957 Research Professor of Law and Director, LawTech Center, University of Virginia School of Law

Michael Lynton

Chairman, Snap Inc.; Chairman, Schrödinger; Chairman, Warner Music Group; Author, "From Mistakes to Meaning: Owning Your Past So It Doesn't Own You"

Michael Potts

Actor, Theater of War Productions

Michael Roth

President, Wesleyan University

Michael Soenen

CEO, Nothing to See Here: Productions; Creator, "Nothing to See Here: Watts"

Mike Buman

Executive Director, LEE

Mike Johnston

Mayor, City of Denver

Mike Varshavski

Physician; Speaker; Creator

Mitch Landrieu

Founder, E Pluribus Unum; Former Senior Adviser, The White House; Former Mayor, New Orleans

Monroe Nichols

Mayor, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Nabiha Syed

Executive Director, Mozilla Foundation

Nathaniel Rateliff

Singer-Songwriter

Neal Kumar Katyal

Attorney and Partner, Milbank; Paul and Patricia Saunders Professor of Law, Georgetown University

Neel Kashkari

President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

Nicholas Epley

John Templeton Keller Distinguished Service Professor of Behavior Science and Director, Center for Decision Research, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Nishant Jain

Artist; Author, "The Sneaky Artist"

Noam Helfer

Musician, Experience Designer, Soundtrack Artist, Sonar Activist

Nora Lawrence

Executive Director, Storm King Art Center

Nour Darwish

Soprano; Opera Singer

Odist Powell

Fellow, Rithm Project

Pamela Shepard‑McKnight

Healthy People, Healthy Carolinas Project Coordinator, Axis 1 Center, Barnwell County (S.C.); Director, The Well Community Collaborative and Pantry

Paola Prestini

Composer; Co-Founder, Artistic Director, and Board Member, National Sawdust; Co-Founder and Artistic Director, VisionIntoArt

Paolo Benanti

Professor, Moral Philosophy, Luiss Guido Carli University; Professor, Technology Ethics, Seattle University

Pascale Charlot

Managing Director, College Excellence Program, Aspen Institute

Patrick Shearn

CEO and Creative Director, Poetic Kinetics

Paula Crown

Artist; Principal, Henry Crown and Company

Paula Kerger

President and CEO, PBS; President, PBS Foundation

Peggy Yin

Ph.D. Candidate, Stanford University; Director, Cognitive Security Task Force, Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI

Penny Pennington

Managing Partner, Edward Jones

Perri Peltz

Documentary Filmmaker, MerriPat Productions; Journalist

Pete McBride

Photographer; Filmmaker; Writer; Speaker

Peter Feaver

Professor, Political Science and Public Policy, Duke University

Phil Andrews

CEO, USA Fencing

Philip Kennicott

Culture Critic, The Washington Post

Priscilla Sims Brown

President and CEO, Amalgamated Bank

RJ Scaringe

Founder and CEO, Rivian

Rachel Martin

Journalist; Host, "Wild Card with Rachel Martin," NPR

Rebecca Hu-Thrams

Founder and CEO, Glacier

Rebecca Winthrop

Director, Center for Universal Education; Senior Fellow, Global Economy and Development, Brookings Institution

Reihan Salam

President, Manhattan Institute

Rich Powell

CEO, CEBA

Rick Hasen

Gary T. Schwartz Endowed Chair in Law, Professor of Political Science, UCLA Law; Director, Safeguarding Democracy Project, UCLA Law

Riman Barakat

Co-CEO, Feelbeit; Founder, Experience Palestine

Robert Kagan

Stephen and Barbara Friedman Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution; Contributing Columnist, The Atlantic

Robert Rubin

Senior Counselor, Centerview Partners; Former United States Treasury Secretary

Rosie Rios

Chair, America250

Ross Andersen

Staff Writer, The Atlantic

Ruth Kennison

Chocolatier; Director of Chocolate Education, The Gourmandise School; Founder, The Chocolate Project and Santa Monica Chocolate Society

Sadanand Dhume

Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan and South Asia, Council on Foreign Relations; Opinion Columnist, The Wall Street Journal

Sam Gregory

Executive Director, WITNESS

Sam Tweedy

CEO, Black Economic Alliance

Samuel Kimbriel

Founding Director, Philosophy and Society Initiative, Aspen Institute

Santhosh Ramdoss

President, Chief Investment Officer, and CEO, Gary Community Ventures

Sarah Haacke Byrd

CEO, Women Moving Millions

Sarah Isgur

Editor, SCOTUSblog; Host, Advisory Opinions, The Dispatch

Sarah Johnson

Professor of Planetary Science and Astrobiology, Georgetown University; Visiting Scientist, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Planetary Environments Lab

Sarah Lewis

John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Humanities and Associate Professor of African and African-American Studies, Harvard University; Founder, Vision & Justice

Sarah Longwell

Publisher, The Bulwark; President and CEO, Longwell Partners

Scott Burke

Teacher and Administrator, Green Mountain High School, Jefferson County Public Schools; Co-Owner and Curriculum Developer, Contextual Learning Concepts

Scott C. Hollingsworth

Director of Narrative Strategy, Story District

Scott Strazik

CEO and President, GE Vernova

Shannon O'Neil

Senior Vice President of Studies, Council on Foreign Relations

Sharon McMahon

Communicator; Founder and CEO, Sharon McMahon Education

Shilo Brooks

President and CEO, George W. Bush Presidential Center; Professor of Practice, Southern Methodist University

Skye Perryman

President and CEO, Democracy Forward

Stephen Vladeck

Agnes Williams Sesquicentennial Professor of Federal Courts, Georgetown University Law Center

Steven Fulop

President and CEO, Partnership for New York City

Suchi Reddy

Founder and Principal, Reddymade Architecture and Design

Susana Martinez-Conde

Professor of Ophthalmology, Neurology, Physiology and Pharmacology, Downstate Medical Center, State University of New York

Tamar Gendler

Vincent J. Scully Professor of Philosophy; Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science, Yale University

Tammy Haddad

Founder, Washington AI Network

Tammy Ma

Director, Livermore Institute for Fusion Technology, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Ted Mitchell

President, American Council on Education

Thasunda Duckett

President and CEO, TIAA

Tim Miller

Writer-at-Large, The Bulwark; Host, "The Bulwark Podcast"

Tim Naftali

Senior Research Scholar, Columbia University

Tom Barkin

President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

Tom Farrey

Executive Director, Sports and Society Program, Aspen Institute

Tom Wilson

Chair, President and CEO, The Allstate Corporation

Tommy Loper

Vice President, Network Strategy and Enterprise Development, Aspen Institute

Tracie Ching

Multidisciplinary Artist; Illustrator; Founder and Principal Mentor, We Create

Tyrone Riley Sr.

Head Boys' Basketball Coach, Jordan High School; Former Gang Member, Grape Street Crips; Filmmaker, "Nothing to See Here: Watts"

Valerie June

Singer-Songwriter; Author, Poet

Vivian Schiller

Vice President and Executive Director, Aspen Digital, Aspen Institute

Walter Russell Mead

Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship, Hudson Institute; Alexander Hamilton Professor of Strategy and Statecraft, Hamilton School for Classic...

Will Sommer

Senior Reporter, The Bulwark

Wyatt Ellis

Singer-Songwriter; Mandolinist

Yuliya Tychkivska

Executive Director, Aspen Institute Kyiv

Zachary Karabell

Founder of the Progress Network; Host, "What Could Go Right?" Podcast; Author

Zahi Fayad

Lucy G. Moses Professor of Medical Imaging and Bioengineering and Director, BioMedical Engineering and Imaging Institute, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai

Ángel Cabrera

President, Georgia Institute of Technology; Incoming President and CEO, Aspen Institute