Recorded live at the 2025 ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego, this session featured Cordell Carter, Esq., Executive Director of the Aspen Institute.
The session explored the foundational role of moral ideals in shaping and sustaining a nation, focusing on three seminal American texts: the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Through these powerful documents, Carter argued that nation-states are fundamentally ideas—moral constructs that require a shared North Star to guide collective purpose. Drawing on historical context and timeless rhetoric, the conversation challenged attendees to reclaim these principles as a path forward through today’s turbulent times.