The Bezos Family Foundation is proud to announce a significant investment to support youth and emerging adults in perpetuity through the newly established Center for Rising Generations (the Center) at the Aspen Institute. The Center is a new resource within the Aspen Institute, which, with the Foundation’s support, will expand opportunities for youth and young adults to engage in civic education, civil dialogue, and leadership development and help ensure this becomes a predictable part of the educational experience.

Here, Bezos Family Foundation President John Deasy shares five reasons why the investment is directed toward the audacious goal of creating a brighter future not only for young people but with young people.

“The Center will support young people in co-creating the future they want to live in.”

Young people aren’t just our future—they’re changing the world for the better today. Expanding opportunities that allow them to engage and lead is very needed in our world right now, and for the long run.

This visionary investment will support just that, and is a direct result of the Foundation’s and the Aspen Institute’s demonstrated commitment to young people — both in the youth-serving programs we’ve worked on together over the decades and in the Aspen Institute’s stated strategic plan priorities to support rising generations.

The Center will not only partner with young people across the Aspen Institute’s programs nationally and globally but expand their opportunities and connections with the world’s most renowned thought leaders who need their ideas, all while also building promising new external initiatives and partnerships. In my more than four decades in youth development and education, I’ve never witnessed anything like this.

“Inspired leadership is guiding this work.”

The Center will be led by global education leader Kaya Henderson, who will serve as its Executive Director and Executive Vice President of the Aspen Institute. Kaya has worked tirelessly on behalf of children and youth for decades. She’s been Chancellor of DC Public Schools and served on the Board of numerous educational organizations, including Teach for America and Education Leaders of Color. She co-founded Reconstruction, a technology company delivering a K-12 supplemental curriculum that centers Black contributions to the U.S. and the world.

I’ve interacted with Kaya on panels and heard her speak at convenings, and I continue to be impressed by her honesty, clear-minded ideas, and, most importantly, her demonstrated track record of letting young people lead.

“The Aspen Institute is uniquely positioned for this undertaking.”

This new investment comes more than twenty years after the Institute first said “yes” to Mike and Jackie’s idea to bring youth voices into the Aspen Ideas Festival, which resulted in the launch of our Bezos Scholars Program. It’s as true today as it was then that young leaders should be part of co-creating new ideas and solutions to pressing world issues. The renowned leadership of the Aspen Institute is the right place for this endeavor.

Since 1949, the Aspen Institute has led the way in civic dialogue and engagement for the greater good. I’ve been involved with the Aspen Institute since 2007, as part of the inaugural class of Pahara-Aspen Fellows; later, as a 2013 Aspen Challenge district partner, and for the last year as the Foundation’s president. Each of these interactions has increased my confidence that the Institute is uniquely positioned to actualize this work.

This investment by the Foundation is a tangible demonstration of our shared commitment with the Institute to a new generation of voices with fresh ideas to power our future and their own.

John Deasy, Dan Porterfield, Margot Pritzker, Kaya Henderson, and Mike Bezos

“A big bet can move us together further, faster.”

The Foundation is awarding over $185 million to the Aspen Institute to establish the first endowed center of its kind. This represents the largest grant to date we’ve made and the largest endowed gift received by the Aspen Institute.

There’s a lot to learn in the months and years ahead, and we’re energized by the fact that the process will begin with listening – to young people directly, Aspen Institute staff, leaders, researchers, and those working across fields to support youth and young adults. We’re confident there will be exciting collaborations and partnerships, creating a ripple effect that benefits young people.

“A historic opportunity for young people.”

I was able to be present when the investment was formally announced at a recent Aspen Institute board meeting. Aspen Institute’s president, Dan Porterfield, spoke about Mike and Jackie’s contributions over the past 20 years, not just their ideas and methods for engaging young people but also their deep respect, faith, and love for them. And that’s absolutely true.

This represents a historic opportunity to impact millions of young people, and we’re so thankful to see this work become a reality. It has been an honor for my Foundation colleagues and me to steward this grant on behalf of our Board Chairs, Mike and Jackie. We hope this inspires others to invest more deeply in our rising generations – whether through time or resources.

The Aspen Institute will hold a public launch event in 2025. Please follow The Aspen Institute for further information. Learn more about the Center for Rising Generations in this press release.