July 23 at 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM CT

Jane Wales

Vice President, Aspen Institute
Co-Chair, The Generosity Commission 

We’re kicking off Virtual Day programming with a presentation by Jane Wales, Co-Chair of the Generosity Commission, a blue ribbon panel of social sector leaders exploring the decline in the number of everyday givers and volunteers, illuminating their role in building a resilient society, and making recommendations for increasing their numbers.

Jane Wales is Vice President of the Aspen Institute and Executive Director of its Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation. She is the founder of the Global Philanthropy Forum and its regional affiliates in Africa and Brazil, and the former host of the nationally syndicated National Public Radio interview show WorldAffairs. Previously, Jane served in the Clinton Administration as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of the National Security Council. She simultaneously served as Associate Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In the Carter Administration, Jane served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State. In 2016, she received the inaugural Department of Defense Nunn-Lugar Trailblazer Award, presented by then-Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.

In the philanthropic sector, Jane chaired international security programs at the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the W. Alton Jones Foundation, and she directed the Project on World Security at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. From 2007 to 2008, she served as acting CEO of The Elders, a network of former leaders engaged in the resolution of intrastate conflicts, founded by Nelson Mandela and chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Jane is a member of the board of directors for the Center for a New American Security. She is Co-Chair of the Generosity Commission.