Teens & Screens

Vivian Schiller joined the Aspen Institute in January 2020 as Executive Director of Aspen Digital, which empowers policymakers, civic organizations, companies, and the public to be responsible stewards of technology and media in the service of an informed, just, and equitable world.

A longtime executive at the intersection of journalism, media and technology, Schiller has held executive roles at some of the most respected media organizations in the world. Those include: President and CEO of NPR; Global Chair of News at Twitter; General Manager of NYTimes.com; Chief Digital Officer of NBC News; Chief of the Discovery Times Channel, a joint venture of The New York Times and Discovery Communications; and Head of CNN documentary and long form divisions. Documentaries and series produced under her auspices earned multiple honors, including three Peabody Awards, four Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Awards, and dozens of Emmys.

Schiller is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; and a Director of the Scott Trust, which owns The Guardian.

Kaya Henderson serves as Executive Vice President and Executive Director of the Center for Rising Generations at the Aspen Institute.

Kaya has devoted her career, as a teacher, a leader, and an entrepreneur, to expanding opportunities for young people.  Prior to joining the Aspen Institute, Kaya was the founder and CEO of Reconstruction, an innovative educational organization dedicated to teaching young people about African-American history, culture, and contributions in a comprehensive and affirming way, so that students of all backgrounds benefit from a more complete understanding of our shared history and society.

Kaya is perhaps best known for serving as Chancellor of DC Public Schools from 2010-2016. During her tenure, DCPS was nationally recognized for leading the nation in improved student performance. At the same time the district enjoyed enrollment growth, an increase in graduation rates, improvements in student satisfaction and teacher retention, and increases in AP participation and pass rates. Kaya also greatly expanded career opportunities for students, provided opportunities for young people to travel the world, and made sure that students experienced the joy of learning life skills like swimming and riding a bike.

Kaya’s career began as a middle school Spanish teacher in the South Bronx through Teach For America. She went on to expand opportunities for students through her work as a TFA staff member, as a Vice President at TNTP, and as a leader of the Global Learning Lab for Community Impact at Teach for All. She is also co-host of Pod Save the People.

A native of Mt. Vernon, NY, Kaya graduated from Mt. Vernon Public Schools. She received her Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and her Master of Arts in Leadership from Georgetown University, as well as honorary doctoral degrees from Georgetown and Trinity University. Her board memberships include Georgetown University, Robin Hood NYC, Scholastic, and Teach For America, and she is the co-founder of Education Leaders of Color (EdLoC). Kaya is a former trustee of the Aspen Institute and a Fellow in the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Monica Anderson is director of internet and technology research at Pew Research Center where she leads the Center’s efforts to better understand the personal and societal impact of technology in people’s lives. Her work covers topics such as the digital divide, privacy and surveillance, online activism, youth and social media, and emerging issues in artificial intelligence. She has authored or co-authored a number of publications focused on public attitudes about AI,  teenagers experiences on social media, and political discourse in the digital age.

Anderson has broad expertise in public opinion, content analysis and social media research and has specialized in public understanding of technology topics for over 15 years. She has a master’s degree in media studies from Georgetown University, where her work focused on the intersection of race, politics and media.

Colleen McClain is a senior researcher focusing on internet and technology research at Pew Research Center.

Konstanze Frischen co-leads Aspen Digital. She brings over two decades of leadership experience in Europe, North America, and beyond. Before joining the Aspen Institute, she was a Vice President with Ashoka, a global organization that invests in transformative ideas for social change, where she launched and led its global Tech & Humanity portfolio after leading the organization in North America and co-founding Ashoka in Europe. She was a founder of the Globalizer, an accelerator for social entrepreneurs, and a board member for GLS bank, a large credit union and one of Europe’s leading ethical banks with a focus on sustainable investments.

Konstanze started her career as a journalist focused on business, and finance, and has done journalistic work in three languages: for CNN in London, for Die Zeit and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in Germany where she was a reporter, editor, and a founding team member of its award-winning Sunday paper, and for Canal 7 in Costa Rica. She studied at the University of Heidelberg, holds a Master of Science degree in Social Anthropology from the London School of Economics, and is an alumna of the prestigious German Academic Scholarship Foundation.

Throughout her career, Konstanze raised funds to invest in social entrepreneurs, and helped them grow their strategy and impact. She has built partnerships with businesses, philanthropists, and universities to scale innovations, and has done field research in multiple countries.

She is an advisory member of CASE at Duke University, and the author of “America’s Path Forward” by Georgetown University Press.

Pete Weber is the Vice President of the Center for Rising Generations at the Aspen Institute. Pete has devoted his career to expanding opportunities and justice for those with the greatest needs with a focus on education and building effective, strategic organizations.

Prior to his work at the Aspen Institute, Pete was a strategic planning and organizational development consultant, most recently at The Raben Group. In this role, he helped non-profit and public sector organizations to define and achieve success. His clients included national and international environmental defense non-profits, voting rights organizations, school districts, hospitals, universities, public health departments, legal defense organizations, and unions.

Pete spent much of his career working with some of the most innovative large urban school districts in the country. He spent a decade from 2007-2017 working at DC Public schools leading teams including HR, budget and finance, data and accountability, communications, and government affairs. He also served as chief of staff to the chancellor. Prior to his time at DCPS, Pete worked in governmental affairs for the New York City Board of Education, as budget director for DCPS, as director of operations and finance for Achieve, Inc. and as a budget examiner for the Office of Management and Budget.

Pete began his career as a high school English and history teacher at Milby High School in southeast Houston through Teach for America.

Pete and his wife live with their dogs and cats in Chevy Chase, Maryland. They have a teenage son who maybe could have chosen a college closer to home.