Consiglio to step down from Aspen Writers’ Foundation

ASPEN – The Aspen Institute announced Monday that Lisa Consiglio, executive director of the Aspen Writers’ Foundation, will be resigning her position at the end of the year.In a tenure of nine years, Consiglio oversaw significant expansions in attendance at Aspen Writers’ Foundation events and the organization’s budget, and she helped negotiate the 2009 merger with the Aspen Institute. Under her leadership, the foundation introduced programs including Story Swap, whose reach extended into the Dominican Republic, the Middle East and New Orleans; the Big Read community book-reading program; and the Lyrically Speaking songwriting series. She also initiated the Aspen Prize for Literature.Among the writers to appear in foundation events during Consiglio’s tenure are National Book Award winner Colum McCann, “The Help” author Kathryn Stockett, Frank McCourt, Salman Rushdie, Ernest Gaines and Chad Harbach.”Lisa is a visionary, a person of creativity, dedication and entrepreneurial spirit,” Dennis Vaughn, the president of the Aspen Writers’ Foundation board, said in a written statement. “Her efforts over the past nine years have had much to do with the success of the Aspen Writers’ Foundation today. The board and I are grateful for her significant contributions.”The foundation, founded in 1976, presents its Aspen Summer Words Writing Retreat & Literary Festival, an event that presents author readings and discussions and workshops for writers, each June.