Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
With small businesses and immigrant entrepreneurs routinely locked out of capital despite powering the local economy, how do we build financial systems that actually work for them?
2026 McNulty Prize Winner Rudy Espinoza, President & CEO of Inclusive Action for the City (Civil Society Fellowship), is tackling this challenge head-on by transitioning entrepreneurs into the formal economy, providing low-interest loans to street vendors and small business owners locked out of traditional lending, and helping longtime tenants acquire the buildings they've invested decades into.
Having distributed over $10 million in small business loans and grants and helped entrepreneurs recover from crises like the LA wildfires, Rudy’s work is a model for connecting urgent, on-the-ground action to the systemic change communities need to thrive.
About the Resnick Aspen Action Forum
Each summer, the Resnick Aspen Action Forum offers the opportunity for the Aspen Global Leadership Network to come together to reflect, refresh, and recommit to confronting some of society’s greatest challenges.
More than a conference or a reunion; the Action Forum is a space where AGLN Fellows gather to search, challenge, and inspire one another. It’s where timeless questions spark bold commitments — and where we move together from thought to action.
About the Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN)
The Aspen Global Leadership Network develops authentic, high-integrity leaders committed to proactively confronting societal challenges, individually and collectively, in order to create a more just, free, and equitable society. The network has fostered a worldwide community of more than 4,200 high-integrity, entrepreneurial leaders from business, government, and the nonprofit sector in more than 62 countries. Because of their demonstrated accomplishments and abilities, they have been selected to join one of 16+ geographic or sector-specific AGLN Fellowships around the world. Through Fellowship programs, global gatherings, and direct capital support, the AGLN equips exceptional individuals with the support to address humanity’s greatest challenges — working to create a world where everyone thrives.
AGLN’s website: aspeninstitute.org/agln
Instagram: instagram.com/aspenagln
Linkedin: linkedin.com/showcase/aspen-global-leadership-network
With small businesses and immigrant entrepreneurs routinely locked out of capital despite powering the local economy, how do we build financial systems that actually work for them?
2026 McNulty Prize Winner Rudy Espinoza, President & CEO of Inclusive Action for the City (Civil Society Fellowship), is tackling this challenge head-on by transitioning entrepreneurs into the formal economy, providing low-interest loans to street vendors and small business owners locked out of traditional lending, and helping longtime tenants acquire the buildings they've invested decades into.
Having distributed over $10 million in small business loans and grants and helped entrepreneurs recover from crises like the LA wildfires, Rudy’s work is a model for connecting urgent, on-the-ground action to the systemic change communities need to thrive.
About the Resnick Aspen Action Forum
Each summer, the Resnick Aspen Action Forum offers the opportunity for the Aspen Global Leadership Network to come together to reflect, refresh, and recommit to confronting some of society’s greatest challenges.
More than a conference or a reunion; the Action Forum is a space where AGLN Fellows gather to search, challenge, and inspire one another. It’s where timeless questions spark bold commitments — and where we move together from thought to action.
About the Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN)
The Aspen Global Leadership Network develops authentic, high-integrity leaders committed to proactively confronting societal challenges, individually and collectively, in order to create a more just, free, and equitable society. The network has fostered a worldwide community of more than 4,200 high-integrity, entrepreneurial leaders from business, government, and the nonprofit sector in more than 62 countries. Because of their demonstrated accomplishments and abilities, they have been selected to join one of 16+ geographic or sector-specific AGLN Fellowships around the world. Through Fellowship programs, global gatherings, and direct capital support, the AGLN equips exceptional individuals with the support to address humanity’s greatest challenges — working to create a world where everyone thrives.
AGLN’s website: aspeninstitute.org/agln
Instagram: instagram.com/aspenagln
Linkedin: linkedin.com/showcase/aspen-global-leadership-network
