Bezos Scholars Program @ The Aspen Institute Announces 2015 Bezos Scholars

SEATTLE, May 11, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the Bezos Scholars Program @ the Aspen Institute announced the selection of the 2015 Bezos Scholars. For the 11th year, this yearlong leadership development program will bring together 12 of the nation's top public high school juniors, 12 exceptional educators and six Scholars from the African Leadership Academy in South Africa for an all-expenses-paid week of exploration, dialogue, and debate at the Aspen Ideas Festival, June 27 – July 3.

In Aspen, Bezos Scholars will connect with visionaries from around the globe—international leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and artists across diverse disciplines—and engage in lectures, presentations, debates and discussions on critical issues. Presenters from previous years have included Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams, retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O' Connor, Admiral Mike Mullen, musician Moby, and New York Times columnist David Brooks, among many others.

"The Bezos Scholars add a fresh perspective at the Ideas Festival," said Kitty Boone, vice president of public programs at the Aspen Institute. "With their curiosity, big ideas and incisive questions, they enhance the dialogue."

Following the Aspen Ideas Festival, the program continues as Scholars return home with the inspiration, relationships, and tools to create "Local Ideas Festivals" on an important and relevant issue in their own hometowns. Since 2005, Bezos Scholars have launched more than 170 Local Ideas Festivals across the U.S. and in South Africa to tackle a range of issues, from water scarcity to literacy, STEM education to rural poverty.

"The Aspen Ideas Festival is the perfect forum to inspire young people and educators," said Jackie Bezos, president of the Bezos Family Foundation. "We continue to be amazed by the remarkable passion and perspective our Scholars bring to the world's most pressing issues, tackling problems and developing solutions that will create lasting change in their communities and around the globe for years to come."

2015 BEZOS SCHOLARS AT THE ASPEN INSTITUTE

• Akeem Adesiji and Andrea Patton, Whetstone High School, Columbus, OH
• Ciara Mulcahy and Diane Casola, Patrick Henry High School, Roanoke, VA
• Elizabeth Yost and Christopher Maly, Lincoln High School, Lincoln, NE
• Gabrielle Paras and Kevin Yourman, Port of Los Angeles High School, San Pedro, CA
• Gile Alimasi and Judith McWilliams, New Caney High School, New Caney, TX
• Gillian Breuer and Kelby Benedict, Poudre High School, Fort Collins, CO
• Griffin Hamstead and Caleb Clark, Knoxville West High School, Knoxville, TN
• Isaac Vaught and Melody Coryell, Gambold Prepatory Magnet High School, Indianapolis, IN
• Julie Fukunaga and Sandra Starr, Tokay High School, Lodi, CA
• Niquan Dawson and David Rose, J. Sterling Morton High School, Berwyn, IL
• Perry Arrasmith and Christian Simoy, Aiea High School, Aiea, HI
• Shivpriya Sridhar and Kevin Shuford, William G. Enloe High School, Raleigh, NC

Bezos Scholars from the African Leadership Academy in South Africa

• Estela David, Mozambique
• Francis Okong'o Kinyanjui, Kenya
• Francis Chitawo, Malawi
• Liston Cosmas, Tanzania
• Portia Kuivi, Ghana
• Ernest Asante, Educator Scholar, Ghana

To learn more about the Bezos Scholars Program @ the Aspen Institute visit: www.BezosFamilyFoundation.org/Scholars. For up to date information and to join the conversation, visit us on Facebook (Facebook.com/bspaspen) and Twitter (@BezosScholars).

Photos and video available.

SOURCE Bezos Scholars Program @ the Aspen Institute