ASPIRE Welcomes 58 to Newest Cohort
Fifty-eight aspiring Georgia Tech leaders recently kicked off the newest ASPIRE cohort, beginning a four-month program that will challenge their critical thinking, self-awareness, and perspectives on what it means to be a leader.
Chatter in the Walter G. Ehmer Theater faded away as the lights dimmed and 2025 cohort members were introduced in a slideshow. Shortly after, ASPIRE Program Manager Rachel Watts set expectations for the crowd and highlighted 2025’s record number of applicants (166). The work, she said, would be tough, but well worth it.
“This is our sixth cohort, and there hasn’t been a single year that we haven’t seen the impact of this program both on our participants and on the Institute at large,” Watts said, adding that, so far, more than half of participants have leveraged at least some of what they’ve learned through ASPIRE into career moves or promotions. “Regardless of whether this program shows cohort members that they want to pursue people leadership, it’s always fun to see them build their confidence.”
ASPIRE’s opening event asked participants and their supervisors alike to be introspective, imploring them to reflect on their strengths, be honest about their weaknesses, and examine their supervisor-employee relationship. In what was the first challenge for many, participants and supervisors then regrouped and discussed what they’d concluded.
The 58-participant group was then separated into four smaller cohorts with a flourish – each group leader walking on stage to a rabble-rousing song and waving a color-coded bandana above their heads, spurring a bit of friendly trash talking between teams.
The opening event also saw a surprise visit from President Ángel Cabrera, who told the 2025 ASPIRE cohort that their presence was a show of ambition.
“Georgia Tech does amazing things because all of you do amazing things, and [being here] tells me that you want to do even bigger things,” Cabrera said.
ASPIRE uses a collaborative learning approach, placing participants in small groups that represent different departments across the Institute.
Over the next four months, the 2025 ASPIRE cohort will participate in workshops and discussions with campus leadership, where they develop new skills, gain confidence, and learn to think like a people leader. The program culminates with each of the four smaller groups presenting a project with impact to the Georgia Tech community, in a bid to have their proposal funded.
Learn more or meet the 2025 ASPIRE cohort here.