Meet the ASG Rising Leaders Program Class of 2022
From the Aspen Security Forum:
The Aspen Strategy Group (ASG) has been strongly committed to cultivating the next generation of leaders in national security and foreign policy—formally and informally—since its inception in 1984. In 2021, we solidified these efforts and launched the ASG Rising Leaders Program for young professionals. Hailing from diverse backgrounds and sectors, all Rising Leaders have one thing in common—their passion for national security and foreign policy.
The selected members of the year-long class contribute to the conversation on critical foreign policy issues while honing their leadership skills at the renowned, nonpartisan Aspen Security Forum.
As a group, Rising Leaders exchange ideas with: world leaders; senior government officials; members of Congress; journalists; prominent thinkers and practitioners in academia, policy, and business; and Aspen Strategy Group members. The program offers an unparalleled opportunity for participants to learn from key decision makers—and each other—under the aegis of the Aspen Strategy Group. The curriculum also includes a writing workshop and the opportunity to work on a group or individual paper. The papers are edited by ASG members and then professionally published as an e-book on our website.
The ASG Rising Leaders become part of a lifetime network of alumni, which offers the chance to further connect with other diverse and bold thinkers in national security. Over the course of their careers, Rising Leaders will be considered for Forum participation, partnership and publication opportunities, and have a lasting affinity to our public and policy programs. In line with the Aspen Institute’s mission, they will ultimately drive change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve the greatest challenges of our time.
Meet the ASG Rising Leaders Program
Class of 2022
Mary Brooks – Fellow, Cybersecurity and Emerging Threats, R Street Institute
Mary Brooks is a researcher, writer and documentarian at the nexus of foreign policy, conflict, cybersecurity, and technology. She was the associate producer of the Emmy-nominated HBO documentary “The Perfect Weapon,” an exploration of how the use of cyber weapons by both states and private actors is changing global power. She has continued that work as a fellow in the Cybersecurity and Emerging Threats program at the R Street Institute, where she has written on a number of cutting-edge issues, including supply chain policy and novel methods of measuring trends in cybersecurity, and has published work in Lawfare, The Hill, and Morning Consult. She also serves as a consulting producer on a forthcoming HBO documentary about the Biden Administration’s efforts to deal with national security challenges ranging from a rising China and an aggressive, resurgent Russia to climate change and domestic turmoil. And she is leading the research team for a new book by New York Times White House correspondent David Sanger. Mary has also been a fellow at Perseus Strategies, a Washington, DC-based public interest law firm that advocates on behalf of political prisoners. Mary graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in Government and a language certificate in Arabic. In college, she studied abroad in Chile and Jordan and interned in the White House under President Barack Obama.
