The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program (EOP) advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy. To learn more about our work, visit aspeninstitute.org/eop. We are pleased to present a selection of our work from the past month.
Videos
Working and Homeless in America — A Book Talk with Brian Goldstone
Employee Ownership Ideas Forum 2025: From Workers to Owners
Hosted in partnership with the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing. Click here to view the full playlist on YouTube, or scroll down for links to specific conversations and speakers. Transcripts for each video will be posted soon.
Day One — U.S. Capitol
- Featured Speaker — Alex Brill, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
- Panel — Fireside Chat: The Ownership Advantage
- Featured Speaker — Jim Bonham, CEO and President, The ESOP Association
- Panel — Securing the Future of America’s Critical Industries
- Remarks from the Honorable Lori Trahan, US Congresswoman, Massachusetts, District 3
- Panel — Owning It: Experiences from the Front Lines of Employee Ownership
- Remarks from the Honorable Bill Cassidy, US Senator from Louisiana
- Featured Speaker — Danny Massey, Director of Policy and Communications, Expanding ESOPs
- Remarks from the Honorable Blake Moore, US Congressman, Utah, District 1
- Remarks from the Honorable Chris Van Hollen, US Senator from Maryland
- Panel — The Ownership Agenda: Views from the Hill
- Featured Speaker — Tammy Miller, 39th Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota
- Featured Speaker — Julian McKinley, Co-CEO, The Democracy at Work Initiative
- Closing Remarks — Sarah Keh, Vice President of Inclusive Growth, Prudential Financial
Day Two — Aspen Institute
- Opening Remarks — Maureen Conway, Vice President, Aspen Institute; Executive Director, Economic Opportunities Program
- Featured Speaker — Dan Porterfield, President and CEO, The Aspen Institute
- Opening Remarks — Joseph Blasi, J. Robert Beyster Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University; Director, Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing
- Five Big Ideas for Employee Ownership
- Jessica Gordon-Nembhard Shares Her Big Idea for Employee Ownership
- Tammy Miller’s Big Idea for Employee Ownership
- Phil Reeves’ Big Idea for Employee Ownership
- Jesse Walker’s Big Idea for Employee Ownership
- Leslie Wilson’s Big Idea for Employee Ownership
- Panel — The Future of the American Worker
- Remarks — Christos Makridis, Associate Professor, Arizona State University
- Remarks — Margot Brandenburg, Senior Program Officer – Mission Investments, Ford Foundation
- Panel — Bridging the Gap: Institutional Investment and Employee Ownership
- Panel — Strengthening Small Business Through Employee Ownership
- Remarks — Loren Rodgers, Executive Director, NCEO
- Panel — Industry Spotlight: Health Care
- Featured Speaker — Stephanie Silverman, President and CEO, Employee Owned S Corporations of America
- Remarks — Gwyneth Galbraith, Vice President of Global Small Business, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
- Closing Remarks — Maureen Conway, Aspen Institute, and Joseph Blasi, Rutgers University
Podcasts
Working and Homeless in America — A Book Talk with Brian Goldstone
Employee Ownership Ideas Forum 2025: From Workers to Owners
Hosted in partnership with the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing. We are releasing audio from the forum as a weekly mini-series on our podcast. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or another platform of your choice.
- Opening Remarks — Maureen Conway, Aspen Institute, and Joseph Blasi, Rutgers University
- Featured Speaker — Alex Brill, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
- Panel — Fireside Chat: The Ownership Advantage
Publications
- Legacy and Community Engagement Leads to Impact: How Mickey’s Popcorn Prioritizes Work-Based Learning to Grow Their Business by Chelsea Miller, UpSkill America
- Driving Value through Innovation: Verified Credential Insights from Cisive PreCheck by Haley Glover, UpSkill America
- Ownership With a Purpose: A Case Study of Clegg Auto’s Employee Ownership Trust by Maxwell Johnson
- Shared Success Midpoint Evaluation Overview
- Improving Job Quality Through Data-Driven Impact Procurement by Lauren Starks, Maxwell Johnson, and Maya Smith, Good Companies/Good Jobs
- Employee Ownership and ESOPs – What We Know from Recent Research by Joseph Blasi and Douglas Kruse, Rutgers University, for the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum
- How Many Firms Are Good Candidates for Employee Ownership? by Matt Mazewski, Ph.D, Rutgers University, for the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum
- Employee Ownership Plans According to Earnings, Gender, and Race in the United States by the Research Team of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing, for the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum
Commentary
- Good Jobs, Stronger Communities: The Case for Creating a Job Quality Practice by Maureen Conway
- Navigating Uncertainty: Key Insights on Mitigating Risk and Fostering Alignment from ASU+GSV 2025 by Chelsea Miller, UpSkill America
- Nominations Are Open for the Job Quality Fellowship Class of 2025-26: Fixing Work in the South
- Job Quality Newsletter – Taking the Lead on Better Jobs by Maureen Conway
- Resource Roundup: Tariffs, Manufacturing, and Good Jobs by Maxwell Johnson
In the News
- Coverage of the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum, hosted in partnership with the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing.
- Listening To An Employee Owner’s Experience Will Make Your Day by Mary Josephs, Forbes
- A worker’s journey to ownership (personal essay) by Roodgally Senatus, ImpactAlpha
- In a polarized US Capitol, employee ownership brings lawmakers together by Roodgally Senatus, ImpactAlpha
Upcoming Events
- May 6 — Job Quality Fellowship Informational Webinar — Fixing Work in the South (online).
- May 21 — How Good Jobs Support Small Business Success: Lessons from the Shared Success Demonstration (Washington DC and online).
- Registration will open soon. Join our Shared Success mailing list for an invitation.
- June 5 — Marketcrafters: The 100-Year Struggle To Shape the American Economy — A Book Talk with Chris Hughes (online).
- June 26 — Job Quality in Practice: Advising Small Businesses on Job Quality (online).
- Registration will open soon. Join our Job Quality in Practice mailing list for an invitation.
Have ideas, perspectives, or resources to share? Contact us at eop.program@aspeninstitute.org
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