5 Tips For Creating Your Action Pledge
Over 1,000 Action Pledges have been made since the inaugural Action Forum in 2013. Watch the video below on some highlighted Action Pledges.
2. Find your sweet spot
The most exciting Action Pledges come from what we call your sweet spot, the intersection of your passions, talents, and your community’s needs.
For Example:
Central America Leadership Initiative Fellow Claudia Cruz pledged to “Use music to ignite the spark in young community leaders.” This Pledge combines her passion for music and performing with her access to a network of volunteers through her work with Glasswing International, and addresses the high rates of gang involvement and violence among youth in El Salvador – a critical issue in her community.
3. Consider expanding on an existing venture
Some participants get hung up trying to come up with a unique approach, but your Action Pledge doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel. Many successful pledges have been extensions of a Fellow’s leadership venture or other existing initiative.
For Example:
Bart Houlahan is a Henry Crown Fellow and co-founder of B-Lab, a non-profit dedicated to using the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. B-Lab is already working with more than 1,200 businesses in 38 countries, and Bart wanted to expand their presence in two key regions. He pledged to “Expand B-Lab’s proven model to serve entrepreneurs in Africa and Southeast Asia.”
4. Make your pledge specific and measurable
An Action Pledge is a public commitment to keep you accountable, so make yours specific and measurable. Tell us:
Here are a few examples to guide you:
- I will produce an online video series to reach an audience of five million that aims to build cross-cultural bridges amongst youth in China and US by 2022. - Bonnie Chan Woo, CEO, Complex China, China Fellow
- I will work toward the creation of 5,000 new jobs for people previously involved in violence, in El Salvador by 2024. - Jaime Zablah Siri, CEO, La Factoria Ciudadana El Salvador and Guatemala, Central America Leadership Initiative Fellow
- I will amplify and center the racial civic leadership and power of 10,000 Black, Latinx, and Indigenous youth within the United States by 2025. - Antionette Carroll, President, CEO, and Founder; Co-Founder and Co-Director, Creative Reaction Lab; Design + Diversity LLC, Civil Society Fellow
5. Get help from the Aspen network
If you’ve hit a roadblock or just need feedback on your Action Pledge, the Aspen community can help.
At this year’s Resnick Aspen Action Forum, we will provide Venture Skill Workshops along with a number of opportunities for conversations.
We want to know what you are working on! Send your Action Pledge updates to Alexis.Ettinger@aspeninstitute.org to add it to your online profile and tweet about it using #AspenAction.
Other Recent Posts
The final day of the 2019 Resnick Aspen Action Forum closed with a celebration of intergenerational perspectives that included presentations from young leaders and a discussion between AGLN Moderator and South African Fellow Heather Sonn and Keith Berwick, long-time friend and founding executive director of the Henry Crown Fellowship. ...
When Anousheh Ansari was seven years old, she drew a photo of a rocket flying through space and set her eyes on exploring outer space being astronaut. There was no space program in Iran at the time and the chances of Ansari becoming an astronaut were slim. “I like to prove people wrong,” said Anousheh Ansari on stage at the 2019 Resnick Aspen Action Forum. On ...
The 2019 John P. McNulty Prize laureates, five extraordinary individuals, shared their courageous and bold social impact ventures at the Resnick Aspen Action Forum on Wednesday night. McNulty Foundation President Anne Welsh McNulty, who founded the award in honor of her late husband, described the McNulty Prize as a call to action. “You have shown ...
Borders are a part of life –– whether internal, invisible, geo-political or otherwise. Borders can help and they can harm. Borders are powerful and they can also be a form of power. Understanding the borders that are around and within us can lead to greater self-awareness and open the path for making great change in the world. With inspiration from the ...
1. Draw inspiration from other participants Over 1,000 Action Pledges have been made since the inaugural Action Forum in 2013. Watch the video below on some highlighted Action Pledges. 2. Find your sweet spot The most exciting Action Pledges come from what we call your sweet spot, the intersection of your passions, talents, and your community’s ...
Leave a Comment