Kathryn Finney (Finance Leaders Fellowship) and Ailish Campbell (Finance Leaders Fellowship) connected through their Fellowship and discovered how much they could learn from each other — from diplomatic negotiations to startup trenches, from staying true to your values to creating space for vulnerability. 

Ailish shaped international economic policy for over two decades, serving as Canada’s first female Ambassador to the EU. Now at Mastercard, she leads global digital transformation of government systems. Kathryn, Managing General Partner of Genius Guild, created the landmark #ProjectDiane study that tracks and analyzes the experiences, funding, and growth of Latina and Black women founders in the tech and startup ecosystem and built multiple companies to successful exits.

Their conversation touches on the unique pressures of leading in the public eye. They discuss the essential role of teams who “really have your back” and give you space to be human when life demands it.

But perhaps most powerfully, they explore how their Fellowship broke through the “masks” they wear as leaders day-to-day, giving way to a rare community of support. “By the end of the week, something just kind of broke,” Kathryn recalls. What emerged were deep friendships and a space where, as Ailish puts it, you have “someone that always tells you the truth.”

This Fellows on Fellows dialogue is about finding joy in leadership, building trust across differences, and the courage it takes to pause and ask: What is my intention, really?

Fellows on Fellows

Fellows on Fellows is a five-episode dialogue series from the Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN). Spanning business, government, and the nonprofit sector, AGLN Fellows share a commitment to enlightened leadership and the drive to tackle the most pressing challenges of our times. Through transformative Fellowship programs and gatherings like the Resnick Aspen Action Forum, AGLN Fellows have the unique opportunity to connect, collaborate, and challenge each other to grow and commit to a lifelong journey of impact.

Fellows in Fellows puts two AGLN Fellows together in honest, heartfelt conversation as they share the real moments that shaped them as leaders: breakthroughs, setbacks, tough decisions, and the lessons that come from being fully “in the arena”. These conversations are a reminder of Fellowship in action. Watch the trailer and look out for weekly releases in January here on aspeninstitute.org and on the Aspen Institute’s YouTube channel.