FASPE is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote ethical leadership among professionals. Our commitment to this mission stems from two propositions: that professionals exert influence on all aspects of contemporary society and that influence comes with ethical responsibility. A commitment to true ethical behavior, not mere legal compliance or tradecraft.
FASPE’s distinctive pedagogy begins by examining the roles and behavior of individual professionals who acted in support of the policies of Nazi Germany as an initial framework for approaching ethical responsibility in the professions today. By studying the behavior and motivations of those professionals who—by choice and action—designed, enabled and/or executed Nazi policies, we create a lens that establishes the importance and urgency of self-awareness, professionalism, and ethical leadership today.
Each year, FASPE awards approximately 85 Fellowships to graduate students and early-career professionals from six professions: Business, the Clergy, Design & Technology, Journalism, Law, and Medicine. The Fellowships begin with two weeks of experiential learning in Germany and Poland where the Fellows engage in intensive seminars and interdisciplinary discussions about professional complicity at sites of historic significance. The FASPE Fellowship extends well beyond the two weeks in Europe; Fellows join a lifetime network, now composed of nearly 1,100 Fellows. FASPE curates and facilitates continuing conversations and learning with its alumni, including in-person workshops; online education; participation in writing, lecturing, and symposia; and social and professional networking.
FASPE’s impact is scaled through the leadership of its Fellows, who are now modeling ethical leadership in places of worship, wherever law is practiced, in hospitals and rural clinics, in giant corporations and technology start-ups, in traditional reporting and social media, in academia, and in positions of public policy.
Beyond its signature Fellowship program, FASPE presents its distinct methodology in Ethical Leadership Training workshops for practicing professionals in organizations across geographies and business sectors, in public writings and lectures, and in a one-week European study program for practicing professionals.
