The Aspen experience is like no other. Fellows spend time in each seminar engaging in readings-based dialogue led by Aspen Institute-trained moderators in order to revisit, question, and clarify their own personal values. There are four key ingredients to the success of any Aspen Global Leadership seminar. We need to have the right entrepreneurial participants, the right thought-provoking curriculum, and the right inspiring meeting space – but without the right moderators, all is for naught. 

Moderators are not teachers. Their role is to guide the discussion, not to lecture or drive to a predestined conclusion. They ask questions, probe responses, and keep Fellows moving and on topic. Most importantly, they do so without bias to ensure dialogues remain respectful and free of personal attacks. 

While moderators vary from program to program, their methodology proves consistent for Fellows across the network. There are 69 moderators in the Aspen Global Leadership Moderator corps. The vast majority of them are Fellows themselves – entrepreneurial leaders and “do-ers” in their own right. Having taken on the challenges of being a Fellow and increasing their own impact on the world through their ventures, they have now taken on the challenge of curating those spaces for others to do the same. 

We couldn’t be more grateful to strong supporters like Paul and Mary Anderson and Anne Welsh McNulty who have helped us build such a unique and global group of moderators.