AGLN Blog

In 2007 the Aspen Institute launched the Catto Environmental Fellowship to develop and connect creative and collaborative leaders committed to environmental stewardship. Currently being relaunched, the Environment Leaders Fellowship will convene a new generation of Fellows with the same entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to solutions. After being dormant for several years, this program required a strong executive for a successful relaunch. In October, Henry Crown Fellow Crystal Hayling assumed the role of managing director to lead the program forward. She joined the Aspen Institute after six years in Asia, where she advised families and foundations on strategic philanthropy to tackle the region’s most pressing social challenges.

You are a Henry Crown Fellow. Do you have a favorite reading or memory from your Fellowship experience?

The entire HCF experience was amazing, first and foremost because of my “We Go to 11” classmates whose brilliance and honesty taught me so much. My favorite reading (still!) is Martin Luther King Jr's Letter from Birmingham City Jail. Firstly, because it is beautifully crafted piece of literature. I love his use of language and rhetorical style. Secondly, because the essay describes the moral hazard of being complacent in the face of injustice. Thirdly, because it explains why breaking an unjust law--openly, lovingly, and with willingness to accept the penalty--awakens a community's consciousness. By the end, it is a poetic call for the imperative of leadership to build a good and just society.
  What do you see as the challenges surrounding the environment?   

The environment is not a problem to be solved. It represents an opportunity to heighten our awareness that we are all connected, that we share common resources that we have to preserve if we are all going to thrive. Progress happens on environmental issues when leaders step up with clear values and work to shape a shared vision. It is why I am so excited to be launching this Fellowship to bring together extraordinary leaders from all perspectives of environmental issues in order to ground us in our collective future.

Your path to safeguarding the environment hasn't been a straight one. Tell us why you are doing this now?  

I became passionate about the environment through my years of working in public health. We'd ask, "Why is there a child asthma hotspot here?" or "Where in this community can people buy the fresh fruits or vegetables we keep telling them they should eat?" or "How do we support communities in prioritizing economic growth and conservation?"  I believe this Fellowship will help address a glaring challenge in the field now: environmental leaders of the future must have cross-sector fluency. They will need to be grounded in local communities, yet able to play at the national, and even international, policy level. They will need to be backed by science and data, but able to communicate with real people about current community issues. They will need to be environment-facing, but deeply linked to other fields such as public health, technology, agriculture or architecture. And we must recognize environmental leaders who come from a diverse backgrounds--age, ethnic, income and education--if we are to maximize broad-based support for these critical issues. I love thinking out of the box and I am excited to launch a Fellowship that will do so as well.

You’ve been talking to Catto Fellows in relaunching the environment Fellowship. What strikes you the most about the Catto Fellows you’ve been getting to know better?

The Catto Fellows are an amazing group. What is striking to me is the way they all describe the Fellowship as having been transformational both personally and professionally. They talk about the fact that they have built lifelong friendships with people who work on 'the environment' but who they would never have met but for this Fellowship. And they talk about leading differently as a result of the Fellowship--whether it is in teams, their organizations or on major policy issues. I'm amazed by the breadth of cutting edge issues that have been significantly influenced by Catto Fellows.

To better evoke the bold nature of their endeavors, the name “venture” recently replaced “project” for Fellows’ action in making their world better as part of their active Fellowship experience.  In what ways might the Fellows you envision welcoming into the Fellowship you’re launching act boldly? In what ways is the Fellowship you are developing in this spirit?  

The Environment Fellows will develop ventures that allow them to start that creative project they've long been thinking about but never carved out the time to do. Now more than ever, we need leaders who will move forward in leaps and bounds. I've learned from the other managing directors the importance of talking early--even at the nomination stage--about the importance of ventures.

What is one fun fact about you that is not in your bio?

I've traveled all over the world, but one of the most interesting journeys was the 3 1/2 day Greyhound bus trip I took when I moved from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to Los Angeles, California not long after graduating from college. I met all kinds of people and had time to hear their stories. I saw parts of this country (Texas is huge!) I'd never seen before. Typically, I'm the type who prefers nonstop flights, but that trip always reminds me that slow journeys can be some of the most rewarding.