Elliot Gerson is the Executive Vice President at The Aspen Institute responsible for its Policy Programs and its International Partners. The Institute’s Policy Programs, approximately 30, account for the majority of the Institute’s operations and revenue. They foster candid, problem-solving dialogue among leaders and policy experts of diverse views; host leadership fellowships and seminars; range broadly in focus across domestic and foreign policy to the arts, culture, and philosophy; work for impact in communities both nationally and globally; host important public conferences such as the Aspen Security Forum, Aspen Ideas: Health, and Project Play; and offer The Aspen Words Literary Prize. Along with Walter Isaacson and Kitty Boone, Mr. Gerson launched The Aspen Ideas Festival in 2005, and continued to oversee it as well until 2023.

 

The Institute has 14 International Partners and Initiatives, in Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa. They work to create a global community of leaders committed to the greater good and elevate non-partisan dialogue to address the world’s biggest challenges.

 

After degrees from Harvard, Oxford and Yale, Mr. Gerson worked as a Supreme Court clerk, practiced law in government and privately, held executive positions in state and federal government, and was president of start-ups in health care and education, and of two leading national insurance and health-care companies. He has served on many non-profit boards, especially in the arts. From 1998 to 2023, he was American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust, administering the 32 annual Rhodes Scholarships allocated to the United States.