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From the Supreme Court's ruling on abortion rights to public health's role in addressing gun violence to the devastating human toll of the war in Ukraine, this year's Aspen Ideas: Health sessions tackled some of the most pressing issues driving headlines nationally and globally. Explore the timely conversations with top government officials, business leaders, public health...
More and more, companies are embracing the concept of corporate purpose as Americans' perceptions of big business have shifted. While declaring a purpose beyond profit is a starting point, how do you actually deliver on it to drive positive change for communities and society?
Sometimes, a single data point can arouse new insights, inspire a novel problem-solving approach, encourage a career shift, or even change a life. In an hour of fast-paced, sensory-rich storytelling, ten trailblazing development leaders from the global South share frontline stories about a piece of data that altered their journeys toward global health — and explain why the...
Development in the Global South is fundamentally about dignity – the dignity of people, of planet, and of all life. In a new anthology by the Aspen New Voices Fellows, the authors offer a balanced view of global health and development, presenting a fresh perspective in an increasingly polarized world. Hear them tell stories of their quest for dignity and share engaging ins...
Our children are in crisis. Globally, one in seven children, ages 10-19, has some kind of mental illness, notably depression, anxiety, or behavioral disorders. Horrifically, almost 19% of US high school students have given serious thought to suicide and an astonishing 9% have actually tried to kill themselves. To turn back that kind of despair, we need to listen to young p...
Rick Doblin wants to be a legally licensed psychedelic therapist. Learn about his work using MDMA, or ecstasy, to help people suffering from PTSD.
How can we unlock the power of entrepreneurship to widen access to health care, close gender disparity, and increase prosperity in the global South? Hear from expert voices and innovators on tools to address social, economic, and environmental challenges in developing economies.
Leveraging global health resources requires on-the-ground knowledge and deep understanding of what motivates the public, business, and philanthropic sectors. Impact bonds, entrepreneurial approaches to philanthropy, and other novel financing strategies are ways to attract new pools of money while generating rewards for achieving positive health outcomes. NGOs can seed inno...
Community health workers bring lifesaving care to hard-to-reach locations. More than one billion people inhabit areas so remote that they lack any access to healthcare, but not too remote to trigger fast-moving epidemics. Enter community health workers, who can detect disease outbreaks, identify malnutrition and malaria, and provide basic primary care. Once operating large...
There’s more going on in discussions of gender than a sudden mainstream awareness of trans identities. Issues surrounding gender identity can (and should) inform our thinking on feminism, masculinity, sexual harassment, and larger policy issues like global health. Though to some it may seem a niche issue, changing views on gender affect us all, personally and politically.
More than one-third of the world’s girls and women have experienced some form of violence in their lives, leading the World Health Organization to highlight “a global health problem of epidemic proportions.” In this year of unprecedented attention to women’s safety, we are increasingly aware of their vulnerability to sexual violation, trafficking and other forms of abuse....
There’s a mental health crisis plaguing America’s youth. The last decade saw major increases in adolescents who reported having a depressive episode, and “serious loneliness” affected a majority of young adults—and the global pandemic has likely worsened these conditions. The stats are staggering, but we need to do more than just talk about them, and come together as paren...
Actress Ashley Judd on activism and promoting health for women and girls around the world.
With the power of a text message, the advice of a health worker fits in the palm of your hand. With innovative entrepreneurship, care becomes accessible where it previously was not. With the skill of a midwife, the pregnant woman in need of a champion thrives. Health systems may be complex, but what powers them is simple—the human beings at their backbone who are critical...
Global conflicts and health crises have put into stark relief deeply-ingrained gender roles in society. Yet the past years have also seen record-high numbers of women running for political office and holding executive positions in Fortune 500 companies. Where are we seeing progress, and where do we still desperately need to make headway? How is feminism adapting to tumultu...
A giant in global public health who dedicated his life to championing equity, Paul Farmer’s death in Rwanda this year at the age of 62 is a heartbreaking loss. Passionate, blunt, and inspirational, he was a physician, an activist, an anthropologist, a mentor, a father, and a husband who rooted his work on the unshakeable principle that all people should be valued equally....
A society that dedicates resources to women is certain to be a healthier society. Ensuring equitable access to education, healthcare, and entrepreneurial opportunities can nurture family well-being and support thriving communities. Yet the pandemic dealt a bitter blow to global progress, sending 47 more million women into extreme poverty, escalating sexual violence, and un...
Bob Chapman, the CEO of $3 billion global firm Barry-Wehmiller who was recently named the No. 3 CEO in the world in Inc. magazine’s article “They Lead in a Totally Unique Way,” will share his transformation from manager to leader and his realization that business could be the most powerful force for good in the world. His message, also captured in a Harvard case study and...
Nations experience crises which require making selective changes, and some nations are more successful solving them than others. We as individuals also experience personal crises, often associated with certain stages of life (teenage or midlife crises), or triggered by external shocks like relationship problems, the death of a loved one, or a health or job or financial blo...
Amazing discoveries are happening in the garages and high school science classes of young pioneers. A 17-year-old invented color-changing stitches, dyed with beet juice, to provide early warning signs of infection. A Time Magazine “Kid of the Year” is building a device to detect contaminants in the water supply and using AI to call out cyberbullying. Another teenager devel...