BGSU student, staff member selected for inaugural Aspen Index Impact Fellowship

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Two members of the Bowling Green State University campus community have been selected for a national fellowship aimed at improving access to and quality of youth leadership programs.

Third-year student Gabriel Beaver and Dr. Jacob Clemens '14, senior director of the C. Raymond Marvin Center for Student Leadership and Civic Engagement, are joining more than 90 other community leaders from around the nation to serve as the first-ever Aspen Index Impact Fellows. The fellowship is offered through the Aspen Institute, a global nonprofit committed to solving challenges facing the United States and the world.

During the fellowship, Beaver and Clemens will help develop, optimize and test the Aspen Index, a forthcoming digital tool that measures core leadership capacities to accelerate personal and professional growth. The index is a helpful tool for self-assessment, feedback, team asset mapping and evaluating program impact, according to the institute. The project's goal is to increase exposure to high-quality youth leadership programs nationally by 50% or more over the next five years.

"We are proud to have two members of the BGSU community selected for this inaugural fellowship," BGSU Chief Diversity and Belonging Officer Jennifer McCary said. "BGSU is a place that has always supported student outcomes and prepared students for a lifetime of meaning and purpose. I am excited to see how Gabriel and Dr. Clemens take what they've learned and experienced at BGSU and apply it to advancing youth leadership opportunities nationwide."

At BGSU, Beaver is majoring in communications and minoring in leadership. He is also a scholar in the Sidney A. Ribeau President's Leadership Academy (PLA), a four-year leadership development program that engages BGSU students in classes, workshops, experiential learning and community service activities. Beaver also presented at TEDxBGSU, an independently organized TEDx event that amplified the University's mission as a public university for the public good, in April where he focused on redefining personal success and happiness. He plans to pursue a career as an author after graduation.

In addition to his work in the Marvin Center, Clemens also serves as PLA senior director, program coordinator for the leadership minor in the BGSU College of Education and Human Development, adjunct professor in the BGSU Higher Education and Student Affairs graduate program and advisor of SICISC, the University's secret spirit crew. He has worked at BGSU since 2009 and earned a doctorate in Higher Education Administration in 2014 from the University.

For more information, visit AspenInstitute.org.