The Aspen Institute announces the Aspen Children’s Forum—Investing in Children’s Health and Well-being to be held July 22-24, 2012 in Aspen, CO. The Forum convenes more than 300 philanthropists, scientists, policymakers, educators, and healthcare practitioners to devise and advance an agenda of research, innovation, and public priorities that put children first. The Institute’s primary partner in this event is the Woodmark Group of 25 leading pediatric hospitals in the United States and Canada.

Private giving to pediatric hospitals has had a profound impact according to philanthropist Susan Packard Orr, who will co-chair the event. “We can also be transformational leaders in society beyond philanthropy and beyond our own hospitals. We have an opportunity, perhaps even an obligation, to use our influence to ensure that kids come first. This means reminding policy makers to pay attention to kids at every level of decision-making. It means helping to raise public awareness of the importance of those decisions that impact children. It means giving voice to kids with special health care needs, kids with no insurance and few resources, kids with exotic diseases of little interest to the research establishment.”

In addition to hearing panel presentations by cutting-edge thinkers in the various fields affecting children’s health, Forum participants will engage in a scenario-planning exercise that imagines a world in which the health and well-being of children is society’s top priority—whether it be in setting research and development priorities, devising public policies, or adopting new approaches to the delivery of care.

 “Whether the advances made are sustained and built upon will depend on choices made—by societies, institutions, and individuals,” according to Aspen Institute Vice President Jane Wales, who co-founded the Global Philanthropy Forum and leads the Institute’s Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation. “Through high level briefings and a scenario-planning process, Aspen Children’s Forum participants will be asked to imagine the ways in which healthcare delivery, research, technology, public policy, sport, and play can be harnessed to the goal of advancing the health and well-being of children. Not only will they be invited to imagine that world, but to build it.”

The two-day Forum is made possible by the support of the Woodmark Group of hospitals as well as Advancement Resources; Grenzebach, Glier and Associates; and Sterling Foundation Management LLC.

The Woodmark Group is a not-for-profit organization whose members are 25 prominent children’s hospitals or independent foundations that support children’s hospitals in the United States and Canada. The hospitals and foundations created The Woodmark Group so that their development staff members could work collaboratively to lead the development of philanthropy to improve the health of children everywhere.

The Aspen Institute’s Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation (PSI) seeks to maximize the impact of social-sector leaders in contributing to the good society at home and abroad through convenings, leadership development initiatives, communications, and strategic partnerships. It hosts the Aspen Philanthropy Group, an agenda-setting body of foundation, public, and private-sector leaders at the cutting edge of change, and it spurs dialog among leaders from the private, public and social sectors in working groups on specific issues of concern.

The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for discussing and acting on critical issues. The Institute has campuses in Aspen, Colorado, and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It also maintains offices in New York City and has an international network of partners.

Aspen Institute

Aspen Institute

The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute has campuses in Aspen, Colorado, and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It also maintains offices in New York City and has an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org or follow on Twitter @AspenInstitute.

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