fellow

program coordinator

intern

underwriter

special events intern

The Aspen Institute

The Aspen Institute is a sprawling nonprofit organization. Most of its work happens within policy programs, where experts focus on specific topics. There are dozens of these programs. Each program raises its own funds, hires a staff and (to a large degree) sets its own team-specific workplace norms. Culture, salaries and job satisfaction can vary widely from one program to the next. But some things are consistent across the organization: people are brilliant, they work hard and they are energized by the opportunity to focus on policy topics they love.

A central staff also supports the work of the policy programs. Central people handle everything you would expect: HR, IT, communications, accounting, legal and more.  These central teams are talented but they seem chronically short-staffed, underfunded and overwhelmed.

Some of the best Aspen Institute jobs involve global travel. You'll interact with top people in your field and you'll learn about new trends and works. You may spend time at the org's beautiful Aspen, Colorado campus.

The Aspen Institute has a unique approach to professional development. From time to time, "seminars" are offered for staff. Reading assignments are handed out. And random colleagues meet to discuss philosophy, motivations and life experiences in the context of these written works. Great conversations are spurred. Few professional development opportunities are as rewarding or interesting as this.

Unfortunately, the magic of many Aspen Institute roles comes to an end. It can be difficult to find clear paths to professional growth without leaving. The next step on the ladder is often occupied. It's common for junior colleagues to move on after 1 or 2 years.

a typical day at work is doing whatever your directors ask you to do, from scheduling meetings, to printings PDFs, to playing telephone with other directors. Occasionally there are projects you can own as a junior staff member but it's basically glorified assistantship with very little real management. Leadership does not have the time, pressure, or incentive to develop staff unless they have a relationship with you, so if you don't have that, you're out of luck. Some managers care about you, but many are so focused on their work that they wouldn't know the difference if someone else replaced you tomorrow. And unfortunately, the tasks they have you doing are so easy and administrative that it probably wouldn't matter. Not a great place to grow your skills, but there are opportunities to build relationships. 

As far as the mission goes, if you want to be in a policy or leadership space, this could be a good experience in learning what your role models have that you want to acquire. But the work you are doing day-to-day is actually very removed from the "issues" and reeks of elitism. 

Aspen Institute is a great place to work, especially if you care about workplace culture and being part of a mission-driven organization. Even though each program operates a bit differently, the central office does a lot to connect staff across the Institute through strong internal communications, activities, and collaboration. 

A big plus is the infrastructure and support Aspen provides. Even if your immediate team is small, you still have access to centralized resources so you can focus on your work without constantly scrambling for basic support.

Aspen invests in staff community and development. For example, communications staff across programs come together for a multi-day retreat planned and funded by the central communications team, with speakers and programming that feel current and relevant.

Great benefits - 401k, health etc. workplace culture really values work/ life balance. 

Pros: Strong mission and values, supportive culture, great infrastructure/resources, cross-team connection, professional development opportunities

Cons: Team culture and work style can vary by program/leadership

A typical day at work is dealing with customers and providing them with exceptional customer service.

I've learned how to Increase productivity of existing staff through team development opportunities, which resulted in lowering the cost of new employees by minimizing turnover and organize, conceptualize and executing a project, along with leading teams.

I proactively managed 5-member team, with accountability for creating job descriptions, recruiting and hiring, training, performing annual performance reviews, conducting weekly employee meetings and diplomatically implementing disciplinary actions.

The hardest part of the job was budgeting but once I got a good understanding of it works it was fine.

The most enjoyable part of the job was just coming to work everyday and positve atmosphere of the office.

My experience at the Institute has been an overwhelmingly positive one. The culture is somewhat different from team to team, with each program varying in it's size, work-life balance, etc. Some teams, for example, tend to stay later than others. Others have more or less oversight. Depending on the team's size and budget, can be tough to advance in this place. Great benefits and pay though, which can make up for that.

There is a place for the Aspen Institute's convening power and it is good that it exists. However, I wanted to work for an organization that could measure its impact beyond talk. There is no one Aspen Institute. It's many desks and fellowships make it many fiefdoms unto itself. My time spent there was under different leadership, but then the directors were played against each other and the more junior staff was left to feel inconsequential. Middle management didn't fair much better. The eat what you kill mentality led to people with former huge titles competing against each other with no real referee. It was toxic and dehumanizing to work there. 

Worked with senior team on different issues, ie: racism, youth development, housing etc. I learned how to work with a lot of different people from different backrounds. Working with management was a wonderful experience because there were several in different offices and different states. I enjoyed working with everyone at the Aspen Institute. A great class of caring people. The hardest part of the job was the end of the day and the most enjoyable part of the job was coming in to work and working on very important projects that made a difference.

Realizing Rights provided the chance to improve the lives of the disenfranchised populations of countries we worked in while bringing their plights to the international stage such as the UN, ILO and WHO, while speaking truth to powere

Overall it was an amazing company to work for purely because what it represents. The work culture is not indicative of the company’s mission. Being at the Aspen Institute and immersing yourself in all of its panels and seminars and meeting the brightest minds in the world was the best experience one could get working there. It’s not somewhere to build skills, but relationships

Access to resources and interesting people abound. Benefits are good for a non-profit and the organization's reputation brings in some great opportunities to network/be exposed to new people and things. Many employees are promoted for time served and not merit or earning promotions. There is a decent amount of hostility between departments that is off putting.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Fellow 2 salaries reported	$17.00 per hour
Program coordinator 2 salaries reported	$48,450 per year
Intern 2 salaries reported	$25.00 per hour
Underwriter 1 salary reported	$17.00 per hour
Special events intern 1 salary reported	$17.00 per hour

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