Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.
Walter P. Paepcke, Aspen Institute Co-Founder
Aspen Institute
NATO Youth Summit
Note: This is a past event, additional resources may be available below.
The 2024 NATO Youth Summit was a collaborative effort between NATO, The Aspen Institute, Aspen Institute Romania, the Swedish Defence University and the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency. Taking place across the Atlantic in Miami, Florida (US) and Stockholm (Sweden) with watch parties around the world, this event dove deeper into the most pressing global issues of interest to youths.
The summit served as a platform to engage, build links, enhance understanding, exchange views, and explore how the transatlantic Alliance addresses current and future challenges.
The Project Play Summit is the nation’s premier gathering of leaders building healthy children and communities through sports. On March 24-25, Project Play heads to the Bay Area — the first time the event has been hosted on the West Coast and a world-renowned center for innovation, just the kind of setting leaders from across sectors need to unlock the ideas and innovations to better serve youth.
Created 45 years ago during the height of the Cold War, the Sports Act needs to be updated. It’s hard to conclude otherwise after reading the final report of the Commission on the U.S. Olympics and Paralympics. From unchecked athlete abuse to declining youth sports participation rates, our sport system has been shaped by fundamental flaws in the design of the Sports Act. How should the Sport Act be reshaped so the Olympic & Paralympic movements serve the public interest?
The national conversation around NCAA reform has centered on two parties: revenue-producing athletes and the universities they play for. But big-time college sport is not an island. It sits on top of and influences the shape of a much larger ecosystem, youth and school sports, which has been transformed over the past generation by the chase for scholarships, preferential admission slots for recruited athletes, and now NIL opportunities. So how to get the new model right? How to reform college sports in the public interest?
This year, as the Aspen Institute’s Opportunity Youth Forum and Fund continues to deepen its commitment to advancing racial equity and expanding justice, we are investing in a set of evidence-based practices – belonging, meaning, wellbeing and purpose (BMWP) – that have demonstrated a positive impact in improving lifetime outcomes for youth and young adults of color.
