ML - Aspen Peak

2012 - Issue 1 - Summer

Aspen Peak - Niche Media - Aspen living at its peak

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talent patrol Lauren McCloskey Elston is helping young professionals get involved at Aspen Institute. they are attending a symposium titled Europe on the Brink: the Euro and the Global Economy. InsIght Lisa Baker Randall Bone Michael Bourke Bill Budinger Jr. Soledad Hurst Melony Lewis Christine Light Christopher Seldin Alexandra Steel The Institute is a global think tank created in part to champion Walter Paepcke's Aspen Idea—fostering mind, body, and spirit—and provides value-based leadership and discussions on critical issues through year-round sem- inars, young-leader Vanguard Chapter's advisory board: Lauren McCloskey Elston, Chair fellowship, policy programs and public conferences and events. "When I started looking at what sort of programming the Institute offered for our demographic, I realized there was an oppor- tunity and a demand to create a program for younger professionals who were looking to become involved with the Aspen Institute," says Elston, 31, the founding board chair. Married and the mother of daughters Palmer, two, and London, three months, Elston graduated with an MBA from the University of Notre Dame and continues a legacy of philanthropy instilled by her parents, Bonnie and Tom McCloskey. lauren mccloskey elston IN ITS FIRST YEAR, THE ASPEN INSTITUTE'S VANGUARD CHAPTER IS EXCEEDING FUNDRAISING GOALS THANKS TO ITS ENTERPRISING FOUNDER AND CHAIR. by alison berkley margo L auren McCloskey Elston walks into the Hefner Lounge at the Aspen Meadows Resort on a March afternoon dressed in a blouse and tailored slacks, her blonde hair pulled into a ponytail. She greets her husband, Ryan, and then mingles with a group composed mostly of her peers. These young professionals are members of an organization she helped found, the Vanguard Chapter of the Society of Fellows (SOF) at the Aspen Institute, and 60 aspenpeak-magazine.com Reared in Aspen, she attended Aspen Country Day School with her brothers Todd and David and sister Devon. Her husband, also from a second-generation Aspen family, grew up an avid ski racer; she and Ryan reconnected at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The Vanguard Chapter surpassed its fundraising goals for 2012 before the end of March—exceptional for a non- profit's first year. Anyone who attended the March symposium and heard participants ask incisive questions of the panelists would understand that there is a need for young Aspenites to regularly devote their intellectual energies to discussions that venture beyond snow condi- tions. "The Aspen Institute is a world-class organization that exists in our very small town; I wanted to make sure that my peer group had an opportunity to participate in it," Elston explains. "All of us are grateful to the Institute for embracing the idea and for its tremendous support." One factor contributing to the Vanguard Chapter's success in attracting members is a price point that appeals to young professionals. A yearly membership is $650 per person and $1,000 per couple, compared to the minimum $2,500 individual donation and $3,500 cost per couple for SOF. "I look at it like the cost of a yearly tuition," says Vanguard advisory board member Christopher Seldin, 40, an attorney for Pitkin County. "And that's cheap when you consider you have the best of the best to learn from, the premier experts in their field, who are coming here to Aspen for these intimate symposiums. It's actually a real gift." AP photography by emily chaplin and chris council

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