Kristen Scholer:
Welcome into another episode of the Inside the ICE House Podcast. Today's guest is Rosie Rios, chair of America250. Rosie, thanks so much for joining us-
Rosie Rios:
Thanks for having me.
Kristen Scholer:
... Inside the ICE House.
Rosie Rios:
I am thrilled to be here. This vault is incredible, by the way.
Kristen Scholer:
It's made for you. A beautiful content studio.
Rosie Rios:
Oh, I love it.
Kristen Scholer:
And we have a beautiful country to talk about, including of course, all the festivities as we head into July 4th. What is on the docket for America250?
Rosie Rios:
It's happening. So yes, after eight years on this commission, four years as chair, getting to what I'm calling the last mile, although I kind of think about this as another phase of a journey. So it's not the end, it's the beginning. And certainly America250 has been working on planning the 250th anniversary for quite some time. So we're really excited. We're about to turn the corner on July 4th, and I'm just thrilled to say that we are so happy to have New York play such a central role in all of this.
Kristen Scholer:
It's been wonderful to see it all come together, and we've been so happy to welcome you here at the New York Stock Exchange, of course.
Rosie Rios:
Thank you.
Kristen Scholer:
Several times of the course of this year in 2026. It's interesting, obviously, America celebrating its 250th birthday. This year, the NYSE marketing it's 234 years since its inception. So obviously two very storied histories that we have here, and an evolution in many ways that has happened side by side. With that connection, how does this partnership with the Stock Exchange help anchor the mission of America250?
Rosie Rios:
Well, we couldn't be more proud of this partnership that we have with the NYSE. I mean, this is 234 years, but really this is still the financial capital of the US here in New York. This is still the financial capital of the world. And so for us to really think about how to galvanize our country around the 250th, we came up with this phrase of 350 for 250. And what that means is we're engaging all 350 million Americans in this effort.
And so the only way you're going to do that is by casting a broad net of participation. And so knowing that the heart of our country is also here in New York, knowing that there's so many stakeholders here in New York, and knowing that we want to be sea to shining sea, what better way to think about this than kind of thinking about our history and our financial history, but also thinking about this as much about the future as it is the past. So this whole innovation partnership that we have at NYSE could not be more appropriate.
Kristen Scholer:
I like how you mentioned 350 million Americans, of course, that this is going to touch over the course of the celebration. Diving a little bit deeper into what the NYSE stands for, and how you're really driving that home with your mission with America250, how have you seen those economic narratives come to life? Ones like innovation, entrepreneurship, and free markets.
Rosie Rios:
Yeah. So for us, we really wanted to make sure more than anything that one of our priorities was to inspire this next generation of leadership. And so as we thought about our programming as a commission, which by the way is 24 members all appointed by the House and Senate majority and minority leaders. So we are equally represented Democrats and Republicans. We are bipartisan, but I say all partisan, nonpartisan. These 24 commissioners, 16 are private citizens, eight of them are standing members of Congress.
And so for us to really focus on what our programming is supposed to be. Again, when I became chair, we made that decision to make it kind of this values-based programming, and really thinking about, again, this inspiration for this next generation of leadership, and why thinking about this as much about the future as it is the past was so important.
And so one of the first programs that we did was America's Field Trip, which was sponsored by one of our first sponsors, BNY. They were absolutely amazing. And they're a commercial bank, they're not a retail bank. But Robin Vince, whom I just adore, really understands the mission that we're trying to accomplish. And so they partner with us more for posterity's sake, understanding again, the significance of what we're trying to accomplish. So for them to come in on America's Field Trip as kind of the first national signature program was really, really amazing.
And this is a national student competition for grades three through 12 who get to answer the question, what does America mean to me? And in exchange, they get to choose from a series of backstage experiences, most of which have never been offered to the public before. So I'll give you a great example. I got to go on that first year in 2024, and of course New York was front and center as one of the field trips to choose from.
So it wasn't just a tour of the Statue of Liberty. We actually took a private national park service boat from Manhattan Island to Liberty Island. We got up to the crown, which doesn't happen on the public tour. We got to walk the hallowed halls of Ellis Island when no one else was there. We were hosted for lunch by Robin and his team at BNY, which when does that happen? We got to see the markets room, the trading floor, the cybersecurity command center. We ended the day at the New York Federal Reserve, getting an overview of monetary policy and then getting into the vault. So for a lot of these kids, it was the first time on a plane, first time on a family vacation, first time out of their state.
And you'll see that a lot of our program is very interactive, very connective, very immersive. And so for a lot of them, they probably didn't know what a National Park Service park ranger does. What is BNY? What is the Federal Reserve? So for them to kind of get an overview of monetary policy, how fabulous is that? But it's also, again, maybe for some of them, they actually saw and maybe felt their future for the very first time.
And so I had this one young girl come up to me, and she said, "I felt like I won the golden ticket, but this is better than Willy Wonka." And so to create, not just these memories, but these feelings, these feelings. And knowing if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. So again, to really think about this as the American dream, and how to really create this feeling that this is the land of opportunity all over again, what better way to think about this than, again, inspiring these kids' futures.
Kristen Scholer:
Yeah. I know you referenced earlier how their perspectives might have changed about the country, of course, learning about all of this. This has been an eight-year endeavor for you, as you referenced earlier. Has your view on it changed over the course of that?
Rosie Rios:
No. No, not at all. In fact, I don't think it's changed even from the days where I remember the Bicentennial of 1976. So I was almost 11 years old. I grew up in Hayward, California, and I was born and raised there because my parents who came from Mexico in 1958, my dad was a seasonal migrant worker at the Hunt's Tomato factory. And so when they got married in 1958 and they moved here, and my dad continued to work at the Hunt's Tomato factory, they wanted to raise their family here.
So 11 years and nine kids later, my mom left an abusive relationship. My dad returned to Mexico. My mom could have returned to her parents with her nine kids, but she decided to make the very courageous decision to stay in this great country because she knew we'd have a better life. And so somehow she managed to send all nine of us off to college. That is the American dream.
So I do remember on July 4th, 1976, it was a cloudy night in Hayward, California, but those fireworks were never brighter. And I remember feeling this enormous amount of pride. But more than anything, I felt an enormous amount of gratitude for my mom who had the courage, the courage to stay, who had the courage to make sure that, with the help of our Catholic village, we had the best education possible. And so for me, I felt like I won the golden ticket, right?
So this is the American dream. I went to Harvard. My son went to Harvard. My daughter's just finishing up her doctorate in psychology, and starting her internship back in California pretty soon. And so I want my kids to feel what I felt on July 4th, 1976. I want them to feel an enormous amount of pride. I want them to feel like they have the whole future in front of them, and I want them to feel like this is the land of opportunity all over again.
Kristen Scholer:
We're going to see a lot of those celebrations here in New York, and I know you have parties planned coast to coast.
Rosie Rios:
Absolutely.
Kristen Scholer:
On the West Coast as well. Rosie, at the core, America250 is about storytelling on a national scale, and you've talked us through those very powerful stories to begin with. How are you and your team thinking about curating this narrative that does reflect the different perspectives that have helped shaped the country over the past two and a half centuries?
Rosie Rios:
Yeah. We talked about that a lot as a commission. How do you really kind weave together the tapestry of all the threads that make our American culture in a way that's not polarizing, in a way that doesn't trigger some of these more sensitive political conversations. Not avoid them. That's not it at all. But we wanted to make sure that, again, that we cast that net of participation across the board and respect all those opinions, all that feedback.
And the way that we chose to do that intentionally was really thinking about this kind of as a local grassroots community driven strategy. And the only way you could make it as authentic and local as possible is to make sure you think about this kind of how we are organized as our states. So if you think about this nation of nation's approach, and that our states have really kind of gone through their own evolution of history.
Every state has their own story. Think about what we looked like in 1776. So Alaska was Russia, California was Mexico and Spain, Hawaii was its own kingdom. At one point, Texas had six different flags flying over it. We doubled our footprint with the Louisiana Purchase with France. And so to make sure that we empowered the states to own their history the way they felt like it should be shared was so important to us.
And so literally at my very first commission meeting as chair, September of 2022, I made the pledge that we were going to form an official America250 commission in all 56 parts of our country. I said we're going to get that done by the end of 2024. So actually it was September 2023. And I said, "We're going to get all 56 of these commissions set up by the end of 2024."
So to establish a state commission in every state has to be either by state legislation or executive order of the governor. Try doing that in one state. We did it in all 56 states. By the way, by the third week of December of 2024, because I said we were going to get that done. And again, that really makes sure that we have stakeholders across the board. And it also makes sure that we include our territories and DC. So we have DC and the five territories. And so we wanted to make sure they were included as well.
And the other way that we really had to make sure that people had a voice. I mean, look, we are a Congressional commission. We were established by legislation in 2016, 10 years prior to the Semiquincentennial. So we knew that we needed the support of Congress in order for us to be successful.
And so that was the second pledge that I made in September of, gosh, it was 2022. September 2022. Goodness. It's now four years since I've been chair. It's amazing how time flies. Where I said at that commission meeting, not only are we going to create these state and territory commissions, but we're also going to become the largest bicameral, bipartisan Congressional caucus on the Hill.
Now that was a tough one because a lot of members of Congress do not join caucuses just by choice. These are discretionary subcommittees of Congress, issue specific. And the average size is about 20 to 40 members. So to try to say that we're going to become the largest was very, very ambitious. We had to beat the Adoption Caucus at 145 members. We had to beat the Sportsman's Caucus at 238 members. We ended 2024, ready for this, at 260 members.
Kristen Scholer:
Wow.
Rosie Rios:
We actually did become the largest bicameral, bipartisan congressional caucus on the hill, but there's more. That following July of 2025, we hit 307, becoming the largest bicameral, bipartisan Congressional caucus in the history of our country. The largest by far. We're well over 400 now. And so for us, that was such an enormous milestone. Because the other significant part of that is it's still representative, almost equity representative among the parties. It's about 55% Republican, 45% Democrat. And it's happening organically exactly the way it should. And so people ask all the time, "Why wouldn't every member join?" Because one, a lot of them don't, but the fact that they are coming together collectively for this particular effort means everything. It's a very, very good sign to the rest of the country that government actually can work.
Kristen Scholer:
I want to dive a little bit deeper into that because clearly unity is at play, and those are impressive numbers that you just referenced there. So I know one of the goals of America250 is to create these shared experiences that do unite Americans. What does bringing the country together actually look like in practice through your programming?
Rosie Rios:
Yeah. I think what was so important for this commission is that we knew very well that we cannot be all things to all Americans, but we have to have something for every American. And that means engaging a lot of other stakeholders, a lot of other partners, and really representing kind of the culture of our country, whether that is through our sports partnerships, whether that is through our musical endeavors, whether that is through local grassroots community driven organizations, whether it's through our nonprofit communities, and really kind of thinking about this on a community impact level.
So again, when I talk about values-based programming, I'm not kidding. So we launched, for example, America Gives here in New York in Times Square on December 31st, leading into January 1 Because we aim through America Gives to make 2026 the largest year of volunteer hours ever recorded by our country. It's never happened before. So anyone who's had high school kids who had to do community service hours in order to graduate from high school, that number's never been recorded at the national level. So we're doing that. We are working with educational stakeholders. We are working again with corporate America. We're working with nonprofits to galvanize everyone around service.
Our country was founded in service. So a better way to kind of think about a way to have everyone do something together, learn from this next generation who's already been doing that through high school, and how do we think about that to make it a part of our lifestyle? And for America Gives specifically, we are using the two federally recognized days of service to make giving back a year round effort. So most people are familiar with MLK Day in January, right? That's the first federally recognized day of service. The second, do you know?
Kristen Scholer:
I'm going to say, is it Memorial Day?
Rosie Rios:
9/11.
Kristen Scholer:
Oh, wow.
Rosie Rios:
9/11 is the second federally recognized day of service. Let's not forget that this year is the 25-year anniversary of 9/11.
Kristen Scholer:
That's right.
Rosie Rios:
And what better way to recognize such an important milestone in our country's history than a day of service to honor them. So in fact, we are having our commission meeting on Ellis Island on September 10th so that we will all be here on 9/11 day in partnership with 9/11 day packing meals for the hungry. So we're thrilled. We're thrilled to be part of that. We're thrilled to honor that milestone, as it should be recognized as a day of service.
Kristen Scholer:
Rosie, you've been dedicated to this for eight years and chair for four years. As you mentioned earlier, what has this process been like to organize something like this on such a grand scale?
Rosie Rios:
It's daunting. It is daunting. And if you would've asked me 18 years ago when I first started my service, I was part of the Treasury Federal Reserve transition team during the height of the financial crisis. I was one of about two dozen finance professionals who were brought in to work under Secretary Paulson and President Bush after Congress had just passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, which became known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
So I started on that November of 2008 through the spring of 2009. And of those two dozen or so finance professionals, about half a dozen of us were recommended for a permanent appointment in the Obama administration. I was one of them. So here I am five administrations later. And if you would've asked me back then, if I would be doing what I'm doing today, I would've said absolutely not. There is-
Kristen Scholer:
Why?
Rosie Rios:
... no way. I mean, one, I never in a million years thought I would ever work for the federal government. That's one. Two, I never in a million years thought I would move my kids. My daughter was nine the day we moved. My son was 13. I took them out of the only neighborhood they ever knew, the only school they ever knew, the only bed they ever knew, and took them to this foreign land of DC to serve in the time that I served.
So I just wouldn't have imagined that 18 years ago. But the truth is I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. As difficult as it has been, there are so many days where it makes it so worthwhile. I mean, I think a good message that people should know, government is worse than people think it is. It is bureaucratic. It is hard to get things done. It is a very, very tough life. And on the flip side, government is much better than you think. When you find those pearls, when you find those amazing public servants, when you find people who are in it because they really do want to make a difference, boy, those pearls make it all worthwhile. So yes, I would go back and I do it all over again.
Kristen Scholer:
Impressive. I'm sure you feel like this is worthwhile.
Rosie Rios:
Absolutely, yes. And actually ironically, in 1986, I was Harvard's student representative for their 350th anniversary. You can't make that up. It's not on my resume, but it is kind of surreal to think. When I think back of that, 40 years ago, my goodness, there I am sitting in between Secretary George Shultz and John Lithgow, who was our MC. I was all of, what, 20 years old, 21 years old. I'm thinking, wow. My mom, I was thinking about my mom even back then. I was thinking about my mom, my gosh, I'm doing this for my mom.
And so now I still think about that today. I'm still doing it for my mom and my daughter. I mean, I love my son very much. I love my son so much, but I always think about our boys will be fine. Our girls have to climb. So I do think about, again, the path that my mom had to take. I do think about the path that my daughter Brooke takes. One of the hardest workers I've ever seen. So yes, I do it as much about the past as I do for the future. And that's when I do think about my mom and I do think about my daughter.
Kristen Scholer:
What do you think your mom would think of all this?
Rosie Rios:
Oh, she's so proud. She passed away a few years ago, but yeah, definitely worth it for her.
Kristen Scholer:
Yeah. And I'm sure your daughter Brooke has been having some wonderful conversations with you as well.
Rosie Rios:
Yes. No. And she'll be heading back home to California this summer to do her internship and her residency. So I'm thrilled to have her home.
Kristen Scholer:
You've got a lot going on, Rosie. All very impressive things to celebrate here. Let's talk more about innovation. Obviously a key theme of America250, allowing people to look through the past in ways that can inform the future and what really is possible. How are you weaving that theme through as we approach the 4th?
Rosie Rios:
We have a couple of really, really great programs that are more forward thinking. And again, being partners with NYSE just makes so much sense across the board in terms of, again, this is where dreams are made. This is absolutely where dreams are made here. And so two tentpole projects that we are partnering with together with NYSE on innovation is, one is America Innovates, which is basically our technology expo working with partners across the board. We had one in Silicon Valley in the spring. We're doing it again in the fall, this time bringing it to DC, working again with a lot of our partners already. And it has really taken on a whole other level of excitement. The one we did in the spring was so successful. I had a chance to attend a number of events.
What was great about it is we really focused on field trips. We had, oh my God, thousands, thousands of folks come through Fort Mason that weekend and registered a lot of school field trips to come and participate as well. And so it was great to see these kids, again, having those physical, connective, interactive experiences. I did a couple of experiments with them together. It was actually really, really fun. And so with that success, we're getting overwhelmed with folks who want to come on board and go even bigger and better in the fall at the DC Convention Center, November 6th through the 8th. And so again, happy to partner with NYSE to bring that to life.
But the other one that's so important that we are also doing together really came to me last fall. And it happened last fall, and of course New York was part of this decision because, well, two things. One, there was a Gallup poll that came out last fall that focused on Gen Z. And it specifically said 18 to 29 year olds are the most disconnected, the most cynical, and the least patriotic of a generation in forever. And that really was unfortunate.
I mean, I was thinking about that a lot, and that's obviously in my kids' age range. And it dawned on me when I was filming a show with Tim Draper from Draper Associates, he's, of course, the godfather of venture capital. I say, he puts the star in startup. We were filming a show together, Meet the Drapers. I was a guest host here in New York, actually, last November.
And we were talking about one of our other tentpoles called Our American Story. Our American Story is our partnership with Airstream and Dodge where we are literally taking these Airstreams that are these kind of customized interview pods, and literally unburying the buried treasure of stories never told. And we had launched part of this initiative at the Iron Bowl at the Auburn against Alabama game in the fall. My goodness, that was my first SEC game. That was incredible.
Kristen Scholer:
Yeah, that's a big one.
Rosie Rios:
I had no idea. And so Tim and I were talking about this. He says, "Rosie," he says, "you're doing such great work. Love what you're doing. But go with what you know. You know the startup world, you know what you're..." And it dawned on me. So we talked about it together. Oh my gosh, absolutely America's Startup. And that whole had just come out, and it just hit me like a ton of bricks.
Oh my goodness, we should think about this competition that allows specifically undergraduates to be able to submit their proposals to be future entrepreneurs. And so we came up with this. I designed it in six weeks. We implemented it in six weeks, America's Startup. And we did it in partnership with Draper Associates. Oh my goodness. It was incredible. And we only focused on undergraduates. Because when you see a lot of these university competitions, they're usually focused on graduate students. That's where the research is, this is where the patents are, that's where the work experience is.
But by only focusing on undergraduates, you kind of get to the heart of this Gallup poll. You also are talking to a constituency that will likely be affected by AI in terms of the entry level jobs that may or may not be available when they graduate. And also what better way to think about the brass ring than by giving them a shot at creating their own future?
We were inundated. We got proposals from almost 200 colleges and universities. And we also included the trades. So you had to be an accredited college, university, or trade school. It was incredible. We flew the 30 semifinalists out to Draper University in Silicon Valley where we did our pitch weekend. Oh my goodness. Our judges were incredible. I was a judge. Tim Draper was a judge. We also had Naveen Jain, serial entrepreneur. We had Chris Larson, one of the co-founders of E-Loan and Ripple. And then we had Sarah Friar, the CFO of OpenAI. Absolutely incredible pitch weekend. And we picked the 10 winners, each of whom received, by the way, $25,000 of non-dilutive grant funding.
Kristen Scholer:
Wow.
Rosie Rios:
I mean, you just won the lottery by the way. And when we announced the winners, Tim Draper stands up and he says, "I'm going to give the top 10 teams a fellowship to Draper University," which is their entrepreneurial bootcamp. Again, you just won the lottery. Chris Larson makes an equity investment in one of the 10 winners. It was crazy and amazing. And if it wasn't for this competition, that wouldn't have happened.
So yes, we're going bigger, we're going better, we're doing it again in the fall, we're bringing it to DC. Again, and I can't think of a better partner than NYSE because what that tells me is, and what we can say to these kids, come the next time you ring the bell, maybe it'll be for your own company. How wonderful is that to think about the promise of what this country can provide them through that dream?
And look, I'm the mother of an entrepreneur. My son, Joey, is actually a very successful entrepreneur. So I've seen that journey. But to live the journey through the eyes of this next generation is really, they are so bright. And again, no one's ever done what we're doing at the scope and scale that we are doing. That's the same by the way for every one of our tentpoles. Everything that we're doing is unprecedented in scope and scale. So why wouldn't we take that risk? Why not use the Semiquincentennial to do something different that's never happened before that otherwise wouldn't have happened?
So to take that initiative to get the support that I've had that all of us have had through this commission unanimously, through my executive committee, who I couldn't be more grateful to. But also through our partners, through our stakeholders, through everyone else who believes in what we're trying to accomplish through this values-based programming, which is, again, no politics, just purpose. That's how we've been able to galvanize this country in a way that's never happened before.
Kristen Scholer:
How do you include local communities in this effort?
Rosie Rios:
Yeah. Thankfully, again, through our state and territory commissions, and also through our nonprofit partnerships, that's another great way. And also through our programming partners. So I mentioned, for example, we have a lot of great sports partnerships. I got to give it to Roger Goodell, NFL commissioner, Adam Silver, NBA commissioner, Rob Manfred, MLB Commissioner. I mean, they have been incredible. I've known them for a while. These are relationships that have been nurtured for a long time.
But when we were here on New Year's Eve in December 31st, and we announced America Gives, and we welcomed in 2026, and then three days later on January 3rd, we announced our partnership with the NFL, where at the Niner game in my home state of California, we unveiled this partnership with our American 250 flag next to the American flag on the field. It was crazy and fabulous. And then of course, if you didn't know who were before the Super Bowl, hopefully you saw us at the Super Bowl where we literally took over the entire audience with this participation of signage that turned the entire viewership into our logo. It was fantastic.
And then obviously we had our logo everywhere, whether it was at the NBA playoffs, at the Stanley Cup playoffs, at MLB All-Star Game. It's just really, really fantastic how sports is also another great way to touch this next generation. And to also get very community and locally driven. But I would also say for America Gives, we have, gosh, it's six or seven dozen partners of these amazing nonprofit organizations who are only doing God's work on the ground. So everyone from the American Red Cross, United Way, Girl Scouts, Feeding America, Habitat for Humanity, they are all involved on this volunteer initiative for 2026.
But we're also bringing them in on some other kind of values-based initiatives like Giving 4th. So in just a few days on July 4th, we made the announcement already, but we are making July 4th what we're calling Giving 4th, which is basically moving the needle for people to think about giving back, not at the end of the year when most people think about their tax deductions, but using the Semiquincentennial as the midway point to encourage folks to give early and give often, and really start a new season of giving so that these nonprofits don't have to wait till the end of the year to operate as an organization.
I mean, a lot of nonprofits receive about one third of their funding at the end of the calendar year. That makes no sense to me. How do you wait like that? And so by empowering them to do what they do best, that's how we really get to kind of local, community driven grassroots initiatives that really make a difference on the ground.
Kristen Scholer:
I love the name, Giving 4th. How does that extend beyond just the 250th birthday?
Rosie Rios:
Yeah. Oh, that's my favorite question in the whole world. So we are using this coming July 4th as kind of the baseline. This is the beginning of the journey, not the end of the journey. And so we're launching it as kind of, this is the foundational campaign to get people aware that we're moving the needle for people to give early and give often, starting this July 4th, and continuing it on into next July 4th.
So this July 4th, we are announcing America's Block Party, which thankfully we have our talent already in place. It's all wonderful what we're doing with America's Block Party that we're anchoring in Los Angeles at the LA Coliseum. That's where a lot of the Olympics are going to be played for the LA '28. And so we wanted to do this as kind of a passing of the torch, if you will, between the 250th and the LA '28 Olympics.
And then again, it's also because it's sea is shining sea, New York, and again, LA. But using that as kind of this awareness that Giving 4th is happening. And then springing into action using the rest of that year, starting on this coming July 4th, and then the next July 4th, we're bringing it back to the East Coast. Again, sea to shining sea. And have this very grand ambition to make the subsequent July 4th the largest day of giving in our country's history, which is again, very, very ambitious knowing that it's very hard to change consumer behavior.
I mean, that's kind of the challenge. Consumer behavior is very, very hard to change unless there's a shock to the system. Well, welcome to the shock. So what a great way to use the 250th anniversary as a way to kind of shock people into changing behaviors, and hopefully changing the structural paradigm of how we think about giving. And what better way? I mean, already July 4th, we already share these moments of generosity already. We come together, we have these potlucks, we celebrate together, we think about each other, we think about community. And so taking that next step of giving back by Giving 4th.
Kristen Scholer:
Yeah. Everything about this, Rosie, including your lead here as chair of America250, is beyond impressive. From your perspective, how do you measure success?
Rosie Rios:
I think there's two ways I think about it. So one, I've already mentioned, I want as many Americans as possible feel like this is the land of opportunity all over again. The same way I felt as an 11-year-old, the way I want my kids to feel this coming 4th of July. But I also think, I love my country, I've always loved my country, and I do want folks to feel like they can still love their country and want it to be more perfect, exactly as our founding fathers envisioned. And so that journey to be more perfect never ends. And it shouldn't end with us either. We should all be continuing to be better. And that's what we hope, that it will happen through these values-based programs that we hope will continue long after 2026.
Kristen Scholer:
Is this a sprint for you into July 4th?
Rosie Rios:
Oh, I think it's just the beginning. I think it's just the beginning. I mean, technically our legislation doesn't sunset till the end of 2027. But it's also, again, a great way to think about, for example, Giving 4th. Maybe it's not just the legacy of America250, maybe it's the legacy of the entire country, and the 250th overall, to think about ways to give back.
Kristen Scholer:
How are you giving back?
Rosie Rios:
Oh gosh. Look, I'm a volunteer. I've been doing this now for eight years, and again, four years as chair. But this is all I do, 25 hours a day, eight days a week. And if I have to continue another year and do what we need to do and think about the succession planning that continues long after 2026, again, I would do it all over again from day one.
Kristen Scholer:
Rosie, anything else to leave our listeners with?
Rosie Rios:
Well, one, we're just thrilled to have NYSE as a partner. I mean, you all have inspired so many dreams. I mean, the first thing that happened with America's Startup is Lynn has just been fabulous. Will, everyone here. And so they offered, maybe we can bring the kids, they're adults, the adults from America's Startup to the NYSE to ring the bell. I mean, how generous is that? Can you imagine these young adults coming to the NYSE to ring the bell knowing that perhaps the next time they ring the bill might be for their very own IPO. Again, that's something you feel, right? It's not something you think. You feel that when you ring the bell, which I've done a couple of times here, there's nothing like that feeling of the American dream is right there, front and center.
So we're just grateful for this partnership. We know we have a number of things to accomplish together in 2026 with America Innovates, with America's Startup, which we're going bigger and better on both of them this next fall, and can't think of anyone who we'd like to take this journey with in terms of making that American dream real than what the NYSE already does. So thank you.
Kristen Scholer:
Rosie Rios. Thank you for joining us Inside the ICE House here at the NYSE.
Speaker 3:
That's our conversation for this week. Remember to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen, and follow us on X at ICEHousePodcast. From the New York Stock Exchange, we'll talk to you again next week Inside The ICE House.
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