06 Feb The Aspen Institute Empowers Future Leaders
Is there anything more important than empowering and supporting the Gen Z / Millennial youth of today who are, quite literally, our future leaders? We don’t think so and neither does The Aspen Institute, our client since 2013. The Institute’s purpose is to inspire and support the upcoming generations of leaders. Our purpose is to support them as they do it. Here is how.
Each year, the Institute holds an event called The Aspen Challenge, funded by the Bezos Family Foundation. It partners with an urban school district in a city new to the Challenge. In that city, 20 high schools are invited to participate. Each assembles a team of eight students and two educators who serve as coaches. Participants take the following steps to complete the Aspen Challenge: Build Empathy, Get Inspired, Design a Solution, Give the Solution a Voice, Outreach and Community Engagement, Present and Compete, and finally Reflect and Grow.
The first event in each city is called the Opening Forum. At it, outside speakers are brought in to talk about challenges and issues facing that city. The teams choose a social challenge to tackle. Eight to 10 weeks later they return to present their solution to those issues at the second event, called The Solution Showcase. The teams compete for scholarship money (up to $60,000) and a trip to The Idea Festival held in Aspen, Colorado.
There are two events in the same city, each at a different venue. In Brooklyn, The Opening Forum was held at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, specifically, the Adam E. Max Gathering Space (BAMcafé). It provided the perfect backdrop for the message we wanted to convey — a representation of Brooklyn as bold, artsy, and vivacious. Originally a ballroom, the space is now a dramatic open-plan hall with curved ceilings and architectural truss punctuated with theater lighting.
The second venue was held 8 week later at the Weylin Center, a former bank that catered exclusively to the Orthodox Jewish community. In keeping with their religious beliefs, the building was built with separate spaces for men and women. Consequently, the rooms are small and the flow of them is difficult but not impossible! We found creative ways to repurpose the props from BAM into Weylin and there was a large central area with a beautiful domed ceiling where we could install the main stage for presentations and meals. The space also provided a large canvas for branding elements of the Challenge.
Both venues were in the inner-city areas which made the challenge of load-in and load-out of 20 schools/bus logistically delicate. We made sure we were always in touch with city officials on the street and had extra team members at both ends to help expedite.
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