Lori Severens is the associate director for leadership and design with Ascend at the Aspen Institute. She manages Ascend’s national and Colorado-focused Fellowship programs, which are values-based leadership programs for diverse leaders with the vision to ensure the American dream passes from one generation to the next. In addition to her current work on the Ascend Fellowship, she has co-designed and launched two leadership development programs for US and global leaders.

Prior to joining Ascend, Severens was the regional director for North Africa and the Middle East for a consulting firm based in Tunis, Tunisia. In that role, she managed projects for international organizations and businesses on climate change, violence against women, fragile states, and public health in sub-Saharan Africa.