DAVENPORT, IOWA (March 13, 2024) — Katie Castillo-Wilson, Founder and CEO of TapOnIt LLC, has been selected as a member of the 2024 Class of Henry Crown Fellows by the Aspen Institute. The Henry Crown Fellowship mobilizes proven entrepreneurial leaders, mostly from the private business sector, between the ages of 30-46 to tackle the world’s most intractable problems.
Katie Castillo-Wilson is a recognized leader in the field of mobile marketing and communications. Under her leadership, TapOnIt has transformed the way businesses communicate with their customers via text, offering a Content-First MMS and SMS Engagement Platform that prioritizes customer engagement, and user experience.
"I am honored to be selected as a Henry Crown Fellow and join a community of like-hearted leaders committed to creating positive change in the world," said Katie Castillo-Wilson. "I look forward to the opportunity to further develop my leadership skills and contribute to building a better society through the Fellowship."
As a Henry Crown Fellow, Katie Castillo-Wilson will spend four weeks over the course of two years in structured retreat, exploring her leadership, core values, vision for a Good Society, and desired legacies. Additionally, she will launch a leadership venture that will have a positive impact on her community, country, or the world.
"The greatest challenges of our time require solutions from innovative, effective, and thoughtful leaders," said Tonya Hinch, executive director of the program. "This class embodies those ideals: they are a force for good, poised to channel their talents and energies into tackling these challenges. With this Fellowship, they are beginning a personal journey with a mosaic of like-hearted and like-minded classmates — a journey from success to significance — that will leave an impact on themselves and the world."
The Henry Crown Fellows for 2024 are:
Jonathan Abelmann, Cofounder and President, Bestow, Dallas, Texas.
Anne Behrendt, Chief Executive Officer, Doran Companies, Bloomington, Minnesota.
Katie Castillo-Wilson, Founder and CEO, TapOnIt, LLC, Davenport, Iowa.
Tracy DiNunzio, Founder, Tradesy, Los Angeles, California.
Beatrice Dixon, Cofounder, CEO, and Chief Innovation Officer, The Honey Pot Company, Miami, Florida.
Liana Guzmán, Chief Executive Officer, FOLX Health, Hartford, Connecticut.
Saeju Jeong, Cofounder and Executive Chairman, Noom, New York, New York.
Cambre Kelly, Cofounder and CTO, restor3d, Boston, Massachusetts.
Dale King, Cofounder and Co-Owner, Doc Spartan, Portsmouth, Ohio.
Justin Ladner, President, Pennsylvania American Water, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Tony Liu, Cofounder and CEO, JobGet, Seattle, Washington.
Jason Mayden, Chief Design Officer, Jordan Brand, Nike Inc, Pasadena, California.
Shu Nyatta, Cofounder and Managing Partner, Bicycle Capital, Miami, Florida.
Hall O’Donnell, Chief Executive Officer, Established, Houston, Texas.
Nayeema Raza, Executive Producer, Vox Media, New York, New York.
Robert Reffkin, Founder and CEO, Compass, New York, New York.
Daniel Rotman, Cofounder and CEO, PrettyLitter, Miami Beach, Florida.
KC Sullivan, President, CNBC, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
Vasudha Vats, VP Global Head of Marketing Inflammation and Immunology, Pfizer, Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.
Zuhairah Washington, Former Chief Executive Officer, Otrium, Rockville, Maryland.
Heidi Zak, Cofounder and CEO, ThirdLove, San Francisco, California.
About TapOnIt:
TapOnIt LLC is a Content-First MMS and SMS Engagement Platform transforming how businesses communicate with their customers via text. TapOnIt has been named Business of the Year by the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce and one of the Top 100 Most Fundable Companies by Pepperdine Graziado Business School two years in a row. For more information, visit TapOnIt.com.
The Henry Crown Fellowship seeks to develop the next generation of community-spirited leaders, providing them with the tools to meet the challenges of the 21st century. It was established in 1997 to honor the life and career of Chicago industrialist Henry Crown (1896-1990) and was initially funded by the Henry and Gladys Crown Charitable Trust Fund. The program is the flagship Fellowship of the Aspen Institute and the founding Fellowship of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. For more information, visit Henry Crown Fellowship — The Aspen Institute.
The Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN) develops authentic, high-integrity leaders committed to proactively confronting societal challenges, individually and collectively, in order to create a more just, free, and equitable society. The network has fostered a worldwide community of nearly 4,000 high-integrity, entrepreneurial leaders from business, government, and the non-profit sector in more than sixty countries. Because of their demonstrated accomplishments and abilities, they have been selected to join one of fourteen geographic or sector-specific AGLN Fellowships around the world. The AGLN is committed to moving these leaders from “success to significance” by spurring them to take action on some of the world’s most pressing problems. For more information, visit aspeninstitute.org/home.
The Aspen Institute is a global non-profit organization committed to realizing a free, just, and equitable society. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve the most important challenges facing the United States and the world. Headquartered in Washington DC, the Institute has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, and an international network of partners. For more information, visit aspeninstitute.org/.
