The Aspen Policy Academy is the first comprehensive, nonpartisan and non-university training program in the United States offering a step-by-step process to learn practical strategies for policymaking.
Our “special sauce” is our curriculum. We teach participants how to engage in policymaking in a practical, engaging way — without requiring our participants to join a degree program or relocate to Washington, DC. We have offerings for participants at every level of commitment, from webinars to part time short courses to full time in-person programs. We also work with nonprofits to help them translate their direct services work into impact, and with funders to train their grantees and manage multi-stakeholder engagements.
We offer a variety of programs to support your policymaking journey. We have full application-based courses for in-depth engagement, week-long short courses to engage in skills building, and webinars to introduce you to first concepts.
| Individuals | Organizations | Funders | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tech | We offer programming to help STEM experts achieve policy impact. | We partner with groups like the Horizon Institute to help their fellows learn policymaking. | We support funders in training their grantees on key issues like cybersecurity and AI policy. |
| Environment | We offer programming to help emerging and experienced environmental professionals impact environmental policy. | We help environmental organizations learn how to contribute to key policy conversations. | We help environmental and sustainability funders achieve their policy goals. |
| Capacity Building | We offer trainings to help nonprofit professionals contribute to policy conversations. | We help organizations expand their potential to have policy impact in their area of focus. | We help funders understand when policy is a useful lever of change – and how to deploy it. |
Open Programs:
Fellowship
Science and Technology Policy Fellowship
Applications Due Feb 18, 2025
Explore All Programs
Want to check out all of our upcoming webinars, short courses, primers, and fellowships? Click through the different options to find the upcoming programs that match your background and interests.
Case Studies
Hear from former program participants about their experiences with our policy training.
The Fellowship was clearly life changing for me and I don’t think you can say that about many fellowship programs.
Hilary Braseth
Executive Director at OpenSecrets
Being able to have this magnitude of impact—I never thought I could do this.
Marcela Alava
Former Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Technology, the White House
The Fellowship broadened what I thought was possible when it came to ways to impact and influence policy.
Jessica Cole
Co-Founder and former CEO of US Digital Response