NEW ON THE JOB

About: Robert K. Steel, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Aspen Institute

At a time of deep concern about the health of America’s financial institutions and the ethics of the executives running them, few nonprofit organizations are in as good a position as the Aspen Institute to start the conversation about regaining public trust.

The institute, with headquarters in Washington, uses seminars, fellowships, and conferences to spark nonpartisan debate and promote ethical leadership. And, as the new chairman of Aspen’s Board of Trustees, few people have had the front-row seat that Robert K. Steel has occupied during the worldwide financial crisis and the years leading up to it.

Mr. Steel, who took on the chairmanship late last year, is a former chief executive of Wachovia Bank, a former under secretary for domestic finance at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and a former vice chairman of the Goldman Sachs investment firm.

Mr. Steel briefly held the chairmanship of the institute’s board in 2006, but postponed his service upon being appointed as a key adviser to Henry Paulson, the former treasury secretary. Last summer he took over the top post at Wachovia, then one of the country’s leading banks, but he stepped down in December, after the mortgage meltdown crippled the bank and necessitated its sale to Wells Fargo. (His predecessor, G. Kennedy Thompson, has been widely criticized for exposing Wachovia to high-risk mortgages.)

Mr. Steel says he is excited to return to the institute’s chairmanship and eager to help the organization spark constructive dialogue among current and future leaders in business, government, and the arts. A former senior fellow at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, he calls the institute’s goals “a natural fit” with his interests and passions. With recession gripping the nation, he says, America has never had a more urgent need for smart, ethical leaders, and effective business practices.

“We can see the need for this every day as we try to face the challenges in this country and around the world,” Mr. Steel says. “You’re going through a time where there is great stress on all business models. You can just see those [institutions] that have good governance are in a much stronger position.”

The Aspen Institute traces its history back six decades. The late Walter Paepcke, chairman of the Container Corporation of America, visited Aspen, Colo., in 1945 and came away so entranced by the area’s natural beauty that he dreamed of creating a sort of intellectual haven where artists, politicians, and business leaders could commune with nature and share ideas.

His dream flowered. The institute today runs on a $62-million budget, and plays host to such events as the weeklong Aspen Ideas Festival, which draws more than 2,000 people annually to the institute’s mountainside campus. This summer’s festival, slated to begin on June 29, is to include such speakers and moderators as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and former Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Madeleine Albright. Former Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton have also participated in Aspen conferences and seminars.

“The mission is basically a timeless one,” Mr. Steel says, “and that is to foster values-based leadership and to provide a neutral venue for discussing and then acting” on promising ideas.

Mr. Steel will receive no compensation for his work as chairman. His predecessor, William E. Mayer, served eight years in the role, and is credited with helping increase the number of donors to the organization and reinvigorating its role bringing together leaders from around the world.

Walter Isaacson, Aspen’s chief executive, said one of Mr. Steel’s top priorities will be continuing the development of the Aspen Global Leaders Network, a two-year program that offers leadership training to leaders under 40. Graduates include Arne Duncan now the U.S. education secretary, Deval Patrick, governor of Massachusetts, and Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Mr. Isaacson says that as passionate as Robert Steel is about the Global Leaders program, he doesn’t demonstrate that zeal by issuing edicts or demanding changes. Instead, he raises new ideas by literally thinking aloud and eliciting responses from others.

“Bob is the best combination of wisdom, common sense, and values that you can imagine,” Mr. Isaacson says. “He’s decisive, but he never rushes to judgment.”

In an interview, Mr. Steel discussed his plans for Aspen:

What are your goals as chairman?

The institute’s primary goal is to strengthen and support the four main pillars of the organization: its seminar offerings, its global leadership initiatives, the more than two dozen policy programs, and the institute’s growing number of public fora on health, the environment, as well as our flagship Aspen Ideas Festival.

To achieve that, we plan to continue the development of our global network of leaders — the Aspen Global Leadership Network. In the public programs arena, our focus is to further expand our offerings. Soon we will be launching a discussion series in New York at Roosevelt House, a new facility where the institute will offer programming in partnership with Hunter College.

Of course, another goal is to maintain the incredible engagement, spirit, and momentum offered by Walter Isaacson, his senior management team, and our Board of Trustees. Fellow trustees should also be principal actors at the institute; their varied experiences and successes are among the great assets the institute has to draw upon.

What advice would you offer to nonprofit board members and executives trying to steer their organizations through the economic downturn?

Boards need to always be diligent but especially in these times. They must strive to improve their role as stewards by constantly monitoring revenues and expenses and adopt solid contingency plans that would give others confidence in their organizations’ governance and operations.

Board members need to be totally dedicated to the cause of their organization. Now is the time to renew commitments to the cause and ensure your board is made up of people who are willing to give the time and resources necessary to bridge the economic downturn.

The institute fosters values-based leadership. Was there, as many seem to believe, a crisis of ethics and values in the financial world that caused the recession?

Today’s economic challenges are the result of many different root causes, but central to the current turmoil is the manner in which both institutions and individuals became overly comfortable with risk, increased leverage, and decreased savings.

After a long period of sustained growth, our economy is now going through a period of adjustment. This correction is painful and unattractive, but a necessary contraction from the economic exuberance of recent years.

While we will emerge from this crisis stronger than ever, there are clearly many lessons that must be learned. For example, there are very important questions about governance, leadership, and regulation that need to be explored. We believe that the Aspen Institute can be an important convener and leader in discussion, evaluation, and shaping an improved public policy for the future.

What do you see as the biggest challenge facing the institute? How do you hope to overcome it?

Like every private-sector business and nonprofit in the country, the Aspen Institute is not immune to the current economic crisis. It is important for us to remember that, while we currently are in very good shape and have funding commitments through 2009, we should spend our resources conservatively. Fortunately, we have planned for a rainy day and have contingency strategies in place.

Another challenge is managing the remarkable growth the institute has seen over the past five years under Walter Isaacson’s admirable leadership.

We’ve added new policy programs, including ones in the field of health, homeland security, and the arts.

We’ve re-energized our seminar programming. The Aspen Global Leadership Network has ballooned from a single class of Henry Crown Fellows to nearly 1,000 leaders from every corner of the globe. And our public programs — from the Ideas Festival to roundtables and book talks — have skyrocketed in prestige and attendance.

It’s a diverse offering that, fully harnessed, provides us the chance to touch many lives.