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

Ascend at the Aspen Institute Launches Forward With Families, a Nationwide Strategy to Scale What Works for America’s Families

New multi-year, multi-state effort unveiled today at the Aspen Forum on Children and Families

Washington, D.C., January 28, 2026—Ascend at the Aspen Institute today launched Forward With Families, a national effort aimed at scaling proven solutions to improve affordability, economic mobility, and security for families.

The effort was announced at the Aspen Forum on Children and Families, Ascend’s signature national convening bringing together senior public officials, philanthropic leaders, researchers, and parent-leaders from across the country.

“It is time to get real about what it takes to raise a family. Get real about what families tell us they need to get ahead. And get real about providing what they need – not in drips, but as a tightly connected set of solutions that lead to economic security, early learning and care, upward mobility, and widespread well-being,” said Anne Mosle, Vice President of the Aspen Institute and Founder and Executive Director of Ascend. 

From proof to practice — at scale

For more than 15 years, Ascend has helped build the modern two-generation field, advancing policies and systems that support children and the adults who care for them together. Today, the evidence is strong, leaders are in place, and solutions are working in states and communities across the country.

Forward With Families marks a shift from proving ideas to delivering results — connecting what’s working on the ground with the leadership and investment needed to scale those solutions across states, systems, and sectors.

Across the country, families are navigating rising costs, fragmented systems, and impossible tradeoffs between work, caregiving, health, and stability. At the same time, leaders at every level are asking a practical question: When it comes to giving families what they say they need, what actually works — and how do we move faster together?

Forward With Families answers that call.

“Forward With Families will put what works in the hands of those who can do something about it,” said Mosle. “State, community, and Tribal leaders can advance and adapt these solutions – from childcare and housing to employment and cash – to deliver concrete results for their state’s children and families, right now.”

Five focus areas driving change

Forward With Families organizes action around five interconnected focus areas where families say they feel the most squeezed and where aligned action can make the greatest difference:

Health & Well-Being – Advancing whole-family approaches to physical, mental, and behavioral health that reflect the realities of caregiving and family life.

Child Care & Caregiving – Treating care as essential infrastructure so parents can work, learn, and support their families without impossible tradeoffs.

Education & Employment – Redesigning education and workforce systems to support working parents and create real pathways to economic mobility.

Housing & Food – Shifting from crisis response to prevention by aligning housing, nutrition, and family-support systems to stabilize families before hardship escalates.

Savings & Cash – Modernizing income, tax, and benefits systems to reduce volatility, trust families, and provide the financial breathing room needed to move forward.

These challenges show up simultaneously in daily family life. Lasting solutions require alignment across policy, practice, and investment.

Leadership rooted in lived experience

Forward With Families is grounded in family voice and powered by Ascend’s national network of more than 1,000 leaders across policy, philanthropy, practice, research, business, and lived experience — including more than 180 Ascend Fellows working at the levers of change across the country.

Rather than inventing new programs, Forward With Families focuses on aligning the different kinds of capital that change requires — from trusted relationships and proven leadership to shared learning and civic imagination — so successful approaches don’t remain isolated.

Why now

Today, 67 percent of American workers are living paycheck to paycheck, and nearly 70 percent of Americans say they have lost faith in the American Dream. Families are navigating rising costs and systems that weren’t designed to meet demands of their every day lives.

“Forward With Families channels the power that we have carefully cultivated for purpose,” said Mosle. “Now is the time to optimize and activate our collective imagination to move this powerful agenda that will make life more affordable, increase opportunities to not just get by but get ahead, and offer peace of mind and prosperity to families.”

Learn more at ascend.aspeninstitute.org.

To request interviews with Ascend leaders and experts, contact [email protected]


About Ascend at the Aspen Institute

For 15 years, Ascend has worked to build the modern two-generation field — advancing intergenerational family economic security, educational success, and well-being by supporting policies, programs, and systems that address the needs of children and parents together. Ascend has reached more than 15 million families and cultivated one of the country’s most influential networks of leaders advancing family-centered solutions.

About the Aspen Institute

The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization whose purpose is to ignite human potential to build understanding and create new possibilities for a better world. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve society’s greatest challenges. It is headquartered in Washington, DC, and has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, as well as an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.