Creating Opportunity for Low-Income Families to be Focus of Aspen Institute Convening

September 29, 2014

Contact: Lori Severens
Ascend at the Aspen Institute
Lori.Severens@aspeninstitute.org

Aspen Ascend gathers 200 leaders at biennial ThinkXChange to advance two-generation work

Follow @AspenAscend on Twitter for more details

Washington, DC, September 29, 2014 – A national policy agenda to address poverty through programs for two generations at once will be highlight of events at the 2014 Aspen ThinkXChange, Ascend at the Aspen Institute announced today.

More than 200 leaders from 30 states and the District of Columbia will gather October 6-9 in Aspen, Colorado, for the premier national convening dedicated to creating an intergenerational cycle of opportunity for low-income American families.

The biennial gathering will also include new data from a national public opinion poll and a preview of innovations from the Aspen Institute Ascend Network of 58 leading national practice, policy and research organizations. Participants will also explore a new report analyzing economic and health opportunities for families in the Affordable Care Act.

“Issues of growing inequality and advancing opportunity for all are the moral challenges of our time,” said Walter Isaacson, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute. “Ascend at the Aspen Institute, with it two-generation approach, is a catalyst and creator of some of the most promising and effective solutions to break the cycle of poverty.”

The goal, he said, is to ensure a legacy of educational success and economic security that can pass from one generation of Americans to the next.

The event builds on the strength of the Aspen Institute as a convening body to focus on the critical issues surrounding two-generation work. The ThinkXChange is made possible with the generous support of Ann B. Friedman, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Bezos Family Foundation, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Chambers Family Fund, Charlotte Perret Family Trust, The Ford Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The Rocksprings Foundation, Scott and Patrice King Brickman Family Foundation, and W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

For further information about the 2014 ThinkXChange please visit www.ascend.aspeninstitute.org. On twitter you can follow @AspenAscend or visit on Facebook at www.facebook.com/aspenascend.

The Aspen Institute Ascend Program is the national hub for breakthrough ideas and collaborations that move children and their parents towards educational success and economic security. Ascend works to spark a new conversation around low-income families, build a network of leaders through a national fellowship program, and elevate promising two-generation policies and community solutions. Learn more at http://ascend.aspeninstitute.org.

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