Protestors converge at the Climate Policy rally.
On a balmy evening last summer, a group of stylish Aspenites, most of them under 40, gathered at the Baldwin Gallery for cocktails and a talk by owner Richard Edwards. A few days later, 30 members of the Aspen Young Professionals Association filled the second floor of the Aspen Historical Society, viewing an eclectic exhibit on Aspen circa 1975 while networking in the here and now. And just before that, nearly 50 Roaring Fork Valley young professionals met at the Highlands Pizza Company to hear about an upcoming tree-planting project from the Independence Pass Foundation.
It’s all part of Aspen’s burgeoning youth movement. While some lament the graying of the town, others are buoyed by a trend to cultivate the next generation of leaders and philanthropists, as local nonprofits seek to add younger donors to their mainstay supporters and other groups aim to develop business and environmental leaders.
That pizza party, for example, was hosted by the Maroon Corps, founded by former Aspenite Aron Ralston in 2006 under the aegis of the Wilderness Workshop. A few times a year, the group hosts “parties with a purpose,” inviting a speaker and recruiting volunteers for outdoor projects. “The idea is to engage young people in environmental issues in the community and empower them to participate,” says Sarah Johnson, current Maroon Corps chair and education coordinator at the Roaring Fork Conservancy.
When Cari Britton Kuhlman, regional president for United Western Bank, noticed many of her friends leaving town, she and eight other young professionals founded the Aspen Young Professionals Association (AYPA) in 2003 to address this “brain drain.”
“I wanted to get people to network so they could find jobs or housing or discuss issues affecting them,” she explains. AYPA holds monthly events for its 250-some members; recent ones included a panel with young local entrepreneurs and an educational evening at the Aspen Institute. “I’ve heard so many times that this type of organization has fulfilled a need,” says Kuhlman. “The fact that it’s continued to grow and prosper shows that.”
