Plus: leadership lessons from Silicon Valley, AI and creativity, and more
Moving at the Speed of Trust
"Say, it's only a paper moon
Sailing over a cardboard sea
But it wouldn't be make-believe
If you believed in me."
These are the words that Arica Gonzalez sang onstage at the 2025 Trust in Practice Summit from the jazz standard "It's Only a Paper Moon." As Executive Director of The Urban Oasis, an organization that transformed dilapidated urban space in Baltimore into thriving places of community by building trust with neighbors, Arica knows firsthand how much it can mean to believe in those around you.
Hosted by the Alliance for Social Trust, an initiative of the Aspen Institute, and Allstate, the 2025 Trust in Practice Summit brought together national and local leaders to foster cross-sector collaboration and inspire collective action toward better social trust.
The Summit convened leaders at the forefront of building social trust in the US — from nonprofits, foundations, community organizations, research institutions, and corporations. It also featured the unveiling of previously unreleased findings from Pew Research Center that dive deep into the state of social trust.
An entrepreneur at the forefront of marketing, branding, positioning and communicating “the next big thing,” Aspen Institute Trustee Andy Cunningham knows what it takes to inspire others. Her experience helping Steve Jobs launch Macintosh allowed her to see what leadership on a large scale looks like, and the importance of raising the bar to get others to exceed even their own expectations.
Leadership is at the heart of our collective future. We’re exploring the many dimensions of effective leaders and leadership through our In Focus Series on “Igniting Leadership."
Upcoming Events
Societal Trust Share Our America: The Summit
June 11, 2025
Virtual
Against a backdrop of a nation struggling with disconnection, a quiet revolution is building. Co-presented by 92NY’s Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact and the Aspen Institute’s Weave: The Social Fabric Project, Share Our America: The Summit
will explore how Americans are coming together to connect, work together, and inspire hope. Hosted by Rainn Wilson. Speakers include Loretta Ross, David Brooks, Jen Bailey, Carla Canales, LB Prevette, Frederick Riley, and many others.
Artificial intelligence was once the stuff of science fiction. Now, AI plays a role in all aspects of our lives - redefining our relationships with art, dating, medicine, spirituality, communication, and more. On June 13, Shared Futures: The AI Forum, co-hosted by Aspen Digital
and the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, will bring together the cultural architects of our time at the forefront of AI's impact on our everyday lives. Join us as we hear from leading voices including journalist Kara Swisher, Google’s Yasmin Green, Match Group’s Yoel Roth, the Vatican’s Paolo Benanti, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and more on how AI is shaping our shared futures.
Leadership Socrates Seminar: Is Punishment A Just Response to Harm?
July 11-14, 2025
Aspen, CO
Societies maintain equilibrium through public trust, including in how law and order are enforced and maintained. Judge John Zhuo Wang and Amanda Berman—community-based, restorative justice practitioners—will lead a Socrates Summer Seminar that examines how we define harm, what justice requires in response, and whether traditional forms of punishment address accountability. The Socrates Program also offers a limited number of partial scholarships.
The Aspen Institute Financial Security Program's National Task Force on Fraud and Scam Prevention released a wide array of insights from early working groups. The guiding purpose of the Task Force is to bring together all parties with an interest in protecting consumers and restoring trust in our financial system.
Explore their latest findings.
Economic Opportunity Listen Now: New Podcast on Job Quality
Elevating Job Quality is a new podcast series featuring insights from the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program’s
Shared Success project. The series explores all of the ways in which CDFIs—Community Development Financial Institutions—and financial intermediaries can help improve the lives of low-wage workers by centering job quality in their financing and advising for small businesses. Listen now.
Rising Generations Unlocking Opportunity in Community Colleges
The Aspen Institute's College Excellence Program’s community college work includes a strong focus on ensuring students’ post-graduation success, whether that’s earning a credential that leads directly to a good job or successfully transferring and earning a bachelor’s degree. This is the driving force behind the Unlocking Opportunity
project—scaling proven strategies to help more students enter and complete high-value pathways. Learn more about the project.
Leadership Moving from Crisis to Common Ground
In 2025, business leaders face historic levels of uncertainty, disruption, and changing norms. The Aspen Institute was created for just such a moment, to use dialogue to help leaders adapt—and lead—through profound global change. Alicia Bonner of the Aspen Institute's Business and Society Programreflects on the implications of America’s political orientation on business values and priorities.
In the News
Energy and Climate
The New York Times’ Climate Forward newsletter featured insights on decarbonizing the shipping industry from Ingrid Irigoyen of the Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance, an initiative of the Aspen Institute Energy & Environment Program.
Rising Generations LearningWell Magazinecovered the recent Aspen Challenge: Boston, a platform empowering local high school students to create real solutions to problems in their communities.
Energy and Climate
In an op-ed in The Hechinger Report, Alberto M. Carvalho, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and a member of the Aspen Institute’s Planet Media Task Force detailed their work to increase climate literacy, convening leaders across education, media, and the scientific community.
Leadership
In the Financial Times, Edward Luce paid tribute to the late Joseph Nye, who founded the Aspen Strategy Group and coined the term “soft power”.
Economic Opportunity Covered by Wisconsin Watch, Southwest Wisconsin Technical College—winner of the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence—is restoring societal trust by turning around its academic offerings to meet workforce needs and preparing its students for good-paying jobs.
