Vice President Renique Kersh co-authors report

As a Aspen Senior Impact Fellow, Vice President for Student Affairs Renique Kersh, Ph.D., co-authored a report focused on the advancement of youth leadership development opportunities. "Advancing Youth Development Leadership Research," was published in October 2023 under the new name of the organization that spun off of Aspen, The Center for Expanding Leadership and Opportunity, along with an additional report on "The Future of Youth Leadership Development Practice." 

Dr. Kersh was named a Senior Impact Fellow by the Aspen Institute in 2022. The program highlights the need to offer leadership development to a new generation of youth leaders. According to Aspen, "fewer than 32% of youth under the age of 25 in the United States are exposed to any form of leadership development." With the goal of increasing youth exposure to leadership programs above 50% over the next five years, the Fellows provide opportunities for youth to cultivate their talents and prepare them to address political, social, and scientific issues.

Another concrete goal of the Fellows' work is the development and testing of the Aspen Institute Leadership Development Index (Aspen Index), a digital tool to measure personal leadership capacities, accelerate growth, and improve the quality of leadership programs. A valuable tool for self-assessment, The Aspen Index "equips individuals, teams, and programs to define, measure, and elevate their potential and deepen their impacts."