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
Jessica Orkin

Jessica Orkin

Executive Chair, SYPartners; Co-Founder, Plan A, Technology Leaders Initiative

New York, NY

Jessica Orkin is executive chair of SYPartners, the leadership and transformation consultancy, and co-founder of Plan A, a philanthropically-funded venture mobilizing leaders across business and civil society around the societal implications of advanced AI. She has spent her career connecting the worlds of business and social good, working with leaders committed to building organizations that matter. For thirteen years at SYPartners, and six as CEO, she partnered with leaders at iconic organizations including AARP, Airbnb, the Aspen Institute, Hyatt, the Obama Foundation, Ralph Lauren, the Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, and Starbucks on strategy, culture, and leadership at pivotal moments—work she now carries forward through Plan A.

With an early career in public policy working with the City of New York, the Ford Foundation, and leading think tanks, and three decades of consulting, board and start-up advising, Jessica is drawn to moments of emergence, and to supporting the leaders who are shaping them. Jessica is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the Technology Leaders Initiative of the Aspen Institute and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.