WASHINGTON D.C. – On Sept. 10 the Aspen Institute announced that College of Muscogee Nation President Monte Randall, Ed. D., was one of 20 selected for this year’s 2025 Ascend Fellows. The fellows were selected based on their “pursuit of prosperity and well-being for children and families.” Randall and the other recipients come from a range of fields including local and state government, post secondary institutes, and healthcare. This year’s fellows represented 14 states and Washington D.C.
The Aspen Fellowship started in 2012 to bring together leaders across all sectors that have made significant contributions to their communities. During the 18-month fellowships recipients will participate in four forums, create an action plan, and come together in monthly group peer leadership meetings.
Aspen Institute Founder and Executive Director Anne Mosle remarked that each selected fellow brings a unique set of leadership skills to the table. According to Mosle, this makes for a talented collective.
“Ascend is turning up the volume on a unified, unstoppable movement that ensures intergenerational family economic mobility and well-being is growing – not shrinking,” Mosle said. “These 20 leaders have bold ideas that are ready for a quantum leap not just individually, but as a collective. Our country and communities are hungry for leaders like them, ones they can trust and who offer – and deliver – innovative solutions and a path forward.”
Randall is a veteran of the United States Navy and a graduate of Haskell Indian Nations University, the University of Oklahoma, and Oral Roberts University. His research has focused on Native American culture, leadership, and the impact of historical trauma on Native American students. Randall also volunteers with Glenpool Public Schools and the Glenpool Creek Indian Community.
The Aspen institute is a global nonprofit that was originally founded in 1949. The privately-funded organization has an international network of partners and drives change through “dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve society’s greatest challenges.”
Randall joins a prestigious list of 182 other Aspen Fellows that have made significant contributions to their community, including Blackfeet Community College President Dr. Brad Hall, Ed. D. The full list of 2025 Aspen Fellows was published on their website.
