Fringe Diplomacy explores the space just beyond the boundaries of states and governments’ capacity and authority in international relations. Fringe diplomacy expands what is possible between communities and nations. It relies on individual citizens, communities, businesses, universities, artists and NGOs to occupy the space where governments cannot go.
Fringe Diplomacy is focused on smart, strategic and meaningful human interaction and engagement. Fringe brings together some of the most curious, creative and innovative individuals to engage in exchange, conversation and build opportunities for partnership and investment in emerging markets around the world.
Fringe Diplomacy is currently and predominantly focused on Partnership Opportunity Delegations (PODs). PODs are small, focused delegation exchanges aimed at creating business, entrepreneurship and investment opportunities in communities often left without the benefits of commercial and business engagement. PODs result in direct investments and partnerships. By integrating investors, business executives and social enterprises, PODs create a powerful engagement package and an unprecedented and effective experience.
Our unique model is rooted in deep and personal engagement; and in so, provides participants opportunities for meaningful encounters with potential partners in a non-traditional and welcoming environment.
PODs lower the barriers to entry and transactional costs for businesses and investors by providing them the access and platform to explore opportunities at a fraction of what it would cost them if they went at it alone.
Each POD is unique and determined by the preference and priority of the local community. This, in turn, creates local ownership and accountability and results in a more conducive environment to forming business partnerships.
Through program design, PODs enable its participants unique access to partners both in the local community as well as the community of POD participants. Many intra-POD partnerships have developed out of the shared experience, thus far.
Facilitating partnerships in emerging markets requires significant resources beyond an initial exchange. Following every POD, there is an infrastructure dedicated to following up, supporting and deal closing. This infrastructure includes Aspen’s Global Alliances Program, the Global Partnership Initiative (GPI) at the Department of State, and other partner entities.
Hover over our locations to see our outcomes
Cuba
Gideon Hughes
Furniture Maker
Cuba
Lynlie Wallace
Chief of Staff at Texas House of Representatives
Cuba
Greg Schomburg
Lead Developer, Red Paper Heart
Cuba
Angelica Rubio
House of Representatives NM District 35
Cuba
Cynthia Owens
Designing Organizations for the Future
Cuba
Luis Menacho
Director of UX at Agility.io
Cuba
John Kissinger
Co-Founded the Boca Economics Group
Cuba
Patricia Lim
Business Consultant, Advisor
Cuba
Sydney Kamlager-Dove
California Assemblywoman
Cuba
Affie Ellis
Wyoming State Senate
Cuba
Richard Banziger
Head of Citi Commercial Bank, Citigroup Inc
Colombia
Myanmar
Tanzania
Cuba
Mickey Bergman
Vice President, The Richardson Center for Global Engagement; Executive Director GAP, The Aspen Institute
Cuba
David Ewald
Design Leader
Myanmar
Tanzania
Robin Weir
Head of China Practice, Facey & Associates LLP, Hong Kong
Cuba
Ben Sellon
Commercial Photographer
Cuba
Lara Jordan
Content Manager, 500 Startups
Cuba
Kristina Johansson
Entrepreneur, Impact Investor, and Sexual Health Educator
Cuba
Liz Iracki
Director of Corporate and Industry, University of Denver
Cuba
Sheila Herrling
Senior Vice President, Social Innovation, The Case Foundation
Cuba
Michael Flemming
Executive Director, St Clair Superior Development Corporation
Cuba
Min Dong
Cuba
Ed R. Boyd Jr.
Serial Entrepreneur, Educator and Executive
Cuba
Denise Byrne
Co-Founder, Forward Cities
Cuba
Adelaida Batista
Partner, Cerulean Advisory
Cuba
Ben Ford
Training Solutions Engineer at Puppet, Inc.
Cuba
Nancy Bearg
National Security, Foreign Policy and International Development Professional
Cuba
Myanmar
Rehan Hasan
Fringe Diplomacy Counsel
Colombia
Cuba
Myanmar
Camilo Ferro
Partner, Renew Packaging and Toss Group
Myanmar
Cuba
Lebanon
Chok Ooi
CEO of AgilityIO, Mentor at 500Startups
Tanzania
Cuba
Lebanon
Vanessa Zuabi
Fringe Diplomacy Board Member
Lebanon
Russell Ladson
CEO, Drop.io
Lebanon
Carol Prendergast
Senior Fellow, London School of Economics
Lebanon
Brian Henry
Entrepreneur, International DJ
Lebanon
Melissa Jun Rowley
CEO, Humanise
Myanmar
Lebanon
Krista Berlincourt
Communications Lead at Simple Krista is charged with leading communications for Simple
Myanmar
Lebanon
Olga Gregorian
Consultant
Cuba
Lebanon
Jordan Wexler
Head of Business Development, Agility.io
Cuba
Ernie Summers
Partner, Faegre Baker Daniels
Cuba
Aviva Mohilner
Brand Development Consultant
Cuba
James Keller
Designer, entrepreneur, and mentor
Cuba
Anne Lebleu
Arabella Advisors
Cuba
Kasey Jones
Director of Marketing, Notion
Cuba
Andrea Fulton
Deputy Director and Chief Marketing Officer, Denver Art Museum
Cuba
Becky Engel
Branding, PR and Marketing Strategist
Cuba
Meghan Auld
Cuba
Ted Breaor
Hospitality Professional
Cuba
Nick Parish
President, Americas, Contagious
Cuba
Myanmar
Mara Abrams
Co Founder, The Flow Collective
Cuba
Myanmar
John Hamilton
CEO and Managing Partner, The Onyx Company and Better Earth, LLC; Partner, Renew Packaging
Myanmar
Bastiaan Teune
SVN Netherland
Colombia
Myanmar
Rachel Samuelson
Fringe Diplomacy Board Member
Cuba
Robin Bergman
Fringe Diplomacy Board Member
Cuba
Myanmar
David Taylor
Former CEO, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp
Cuba
Bianca Grifith
Co-Founder and CEO, Agua Inc
Myanmar
Cuba
Courtney Spence
CEO, CSpence Group; Founder, Students of the World
Cuba
Kai Tao
Investor
Cuba
Erin Schrode
Green Girl | Co-Founder, Turning Green
Cuba
Will McDonough
Investor and Entrepreneur
Colombia
Tanzania
Myanmar
Cuba
Julie McDermott
Angel Investor, LP, Fixed Income Trader
Cuba
Linda Rotunno
CEO, American Council of Young Political Leaders
Cuba
Eric Stonecipher
Lawyer
Cuba
Bill Hume
Board Member, Richardson Center for Global Engagement
Myanmar
Arijit Basu
Regional Director, Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, United Nations Foundation
Cuba
Mark Hanis
Social Entrepreneur
Myanmar
Joe Demin
Chief Relaxation Officer, Co-Founder and CEO, Yellow Leaf Hammock
Myanmar
Anh Nguyen
CEO, Green Generation
Cuba
Peter Kasprowicz
CTO, CFO & Co-founder, Kingo
Cuba
John Burchett
Senior Director Public Policy, Google
Cuba
Jay Rosenblum
President & CEO, Sutin, Thayer & Browne
Myanmar
Mark Johnson
Director of Education Innovation, University of Wisconsin
Cuba
Karl Alomar
COO, DigitalOcean
Cuba
Marcelino J. Alvarez
CEO, Uncorked Studios
Myanmar
Andrew Hoffman
Financial Entrepreneur
Cuba
Alexander F. Becker
Co-Founder/Partner/VP, Real Estate Consultants of Colorado, LLC
Cuba
Vanessa Camones
CEO & Founder, TheMix Agency
Cuba
Michael Cox
Entrepreneur
Myanmar
Rachel Connors
Co-Founder and Chief Strategist of “Psst... Pass It On!”, Yellow Leaf Hammock
Cuba
Joey Gonzalez
CEO and Partner, Barry’s Bootcamp Franchise
Myanmar
Mahua Acharya
Managing Director & Head of India Operations, C-Quest Capital
Cuba
Tommasa Gonzalez
Cuba
Angelina Ho
Partner & VP, Agility.IO
Myanmar
Kathleen Flaherty
K21 Communications
Cuba
Dora Hsu
CPO, SmartThings
Cuba
Jonathan Keidan
Co Founder & President, InsideHook
Cuba
Astri Kimball
Policy Counsel & Internet Regulation, Google
Cuba
Eric Leenson
Founder and President, Sol 2 Economics
Tanzania
Myanmar
Olivia Nava
Co-Founder and CEO, Juabar Design
Cuba
Olga Malyuk
International Fashion Model
Cuba
Allison Mooney
Head of Trends & Insights, Google Marketing; Editor-in-Chief, Think with Google
Tanzania
Simon Dixon
Expansion and Infrastructure Manager, Sanergy
Cuba
Jonathan Rollo
“Commander in Leaf” & Owner, Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop
Cuba
Paul Sohn
Founding Partner & CIO, Mont Alto Capital
Tanzania
Arun Savanur
CEO, Quippo Energy Private Limited
Tanzania
Joachim Ewechu
Co-Founder and CEO, Unreasonable East Africa
Tanzania
Nathan Fletcher
Senior Director, Global Strategic Initiatives, Qualcomm Technologies Incorporated
Tanzania
Cuba
Dafna Lifshitz
CEO, Appleseeds
Tanzania
Pepijn Steemers
Greenlink
Myanmar
Joseph Bild
Managing Partner of BAI Corp (Bild Alternative Investment Corp)
Myanmar
Trung Ngô Chí
Co-Founder and COO, AgilityIO
Myanmar
May Myo Han
Assistant
Myanmar
Nicholas Choo
Investor
Myanmar
Victoria Fine
Director of Strategy and Audience Development, Slate
Myanmar
Aye Nyein Moe
Interpreter
Myanmar
Melissa Foo
Global Investor and Portfolio Manager based in New York City
Myanmar
Darin Bielecki
International Republican Institute
Myanmar
Josh Lockman
Lecturer at the University of Southern California Law School
Myanmar
Michelle Moghtader
Co-Founder and the Director of Global Development, Shared Studios
Myanmar
Aldrinana Leung
Advisor, Global Partnership Initiative, Department of State
Myanmar
Jonathan Vidar
Senior Vice President, Ruder Finn
Myanmar
Tanzania
Kinsey Casey
Chief of Staff, Office of Global Partnerships, Department of State
Colombia
Jamie Van Leeuwen
Deputy Chief of Staff, Governor Hickenlooper
Colombia
Nina Weissberg
Angel Investor & President, Weissberg Corporation
Colombia
Sarah Williams
Co-Founder, Advective Capital
Colombia
Carlos Nieto
Managing Director, OnNe Consulting
Myanmar
Mindy Walker
Consultant, The Richardson Center for Global Engagement
Colombia
Natalia Oberti Noguera
Founder & CEO, Pipeline Fellowship
Colombia
Laura Pastrana
Founder, COO, QVIT Corporation
Myanmar
Tanzania
Chris Westling
Senior Associate, JOD Global Philanthropies
Colombia
Brett Hamsik
Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, US Department of State
Colombia
Matthew Stevens
Global Partnerships Initiative, US Department of State
Colombia
Jesse Grainger
Director of Marketing and Communications, Agora Partnerships
Colombia
Maria Rodriguez
Business Development Associate, Agora Partnerships
Myanmar
Erin Murphy
President & Founder, Inle Advisory Group
Colombia
Ricardo Garcia-Amaya
CEO, AngelPolitics & Executive Director, NAA Angels
Myanmar
Cuba
Alexandra Visher
Strategic Philanthropy Consultant
Cuba
Mariana Somma
Designer and Entreprenuer
Cuba
Pilar Guzman Zavala
President, HalfMonn Empanadas
Myanmar
Pete Silvester
Managing Partner, Morris & Silvester
Cuba
Peter Kucik
Inle Group
Cuba
Jeff Brown
General Manager, Sage Restaurant Group
Myanmar
Salif Romano Niang
Co-founder, Malo
Cuba
Joaquin Bartra
COO, TheMix Agency
Myanmar
Toni Maraviglia
Founder and CEO, Eneza Education
Cuba
Josh Reich
CEO and Co-Founder, Simple
Myanmar
Tanzania
Cynthia Koenig
Founder, Wello Water
Cuba
Krystal South
Artist, Writer and Technologist
Cuba
Ralph Cygan
MD
Myanmar
Tanzania
Mouhsine Serrar
Founder and CEO, Prakti
Cuba
Kitty Cygan
MD
Cuba
Teresa Lee
Head of Finance & Operations, Agility.IO
Cuba
Jorge Rivas Perez
Curator, Spanish Colonial Art, Denver Art Museum
Cuba
John Mumford
Managing Director of International Development & Co-Founder, Barry’s Bootcamp
Myanmar
Karen Hennessy
Director, SalesForce.com
Cuba
Michael Blum
Creator/Executive Producer/Showrunner
Myanmar
Peter Corne
Managing Partner, Asia Practice Group, Dorsey and Whitney LLP
Cuba
Miguel Estien
Director, Corporate Business Development, GE Capital
Cuba
Whitney Kenter
Partner & Managing Member, Matter Family Foundation
Myanmar
Mark Quinn-Newall
Investor
Cuba
Payal Berning
Entreprenuer/Investor
Cuba
Patti Vrobel
Director of Engineering, Autodesk
Myanmar
Elliot Gerson
Executive Vice President, The Aspen Institute
Cuba
Matt Jarvis
President & Founder BlūLīn IT
Colombia
Myanmar
Drew O’Brien
Special Representative for Global Partnerships, Department of State