Elliot Gerson is the Executive Vice President at The Aspen Institute responsible for its Policy Programs and its International Partners. The Institute’s Policy Programs, approximately 30, account for the majority of The Institute’s operations and revenue. They foster candid, problem-solving dialogue among leaders and policy experts of diverse views, host leadership fellowships, range broadly beyond domestic and foreign policy to the arts, culture, philosophy and values, business, the sciences, and work for impact in communities both nationally and globally. Along with Walter Isaacson and Kitty Boone, he launched The Aspen Ideas Festival in 2005.
The Institute has 13 International Partners in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Romania, Spain, Ukraine, Colombia, and the United Kingdom, some working actively in neighboring countries as well. Our Partners work to create a global community of leaders committed to the greater good and elevate non-partisan dialogue to address the world’s biggest challenges.
After Harvard College, a degree in philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and Yale Law School, Mr. Gerson worked as a Supreme Court clerk, practiced law in government and privately, held executive positions in state and federal government, and was president of start-ups in health care and education, and of two leading national insurance and health-care companies. He has served on many non-profit boards, especially in the arts. From 1998 to 2023, he was American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust, administering the 32 annual Rhodes Scholarships allocated to the United States.