Economic Opportunities Program Monthly Digest Double Issue — November & December 2025

The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program (EOP) advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy.

We are pleased to present a selection of our work from the past two months.

If a colleague shared this newsletter with you, consider subscribing to our mailing list or connecting on social media. To learn more about our work, visit aspeninstitute.org/eop.

Announcements

National Job Quality Practitioner Survey

December 31 is the last day to add your voice to our National Job Quality Practitioner Survey. If your organization is involved in efforts to improve job quality — through workforce development, business advising, community finance, employee ownership, worker organizing, legal support, philanthropy, policy advocacy, or other means — we want to hear from you. One recipient will be selected randomly from all completed survey responses to receive a $300 donation to their organization. Take the survey here.

Introducing Our New Education and Career Mobility Fellows

UpSkill America and Guild are proud to announce the third cohort of the Education and Career Mobility Fellowship, a unique development program designed to support HR professionals in their efforts to build effective programs, connect opportunities, and create positive outcomes for employees across the workforce and the businesses that employ them. Learn more here.

Publications

• The Case for Validated Skills: What Employers Want and Need by Haley Glover, UpSkill America
• Pooling Resources Is an Investment in People and Business: Shared Solutions Drive Retention and Growth by Chelsea Miller, UpSkill America
• Workforce Leadership Academies in Action: Lessons from Albuquerque and North Carolina by Haley Glover and Alison Yost, UpSkill America
• Job Quality Insights from Small Business Employees by Economic Opportunities Program staff and KRC Research
• Integrating a Job Quality Practice in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs): A Q&A by Bryn Morgan and Joyce Klein
• Upskilling Playbook: AI, Skill Development, and the Workforce by Chelsea Miller, Chris Huyck Trout, and Haley Glover, UpSkill America
• Shared Success Evaluation Results by Tim Ogden (Financial Access Initiative), Barbara Magnoni (EA Consultants), and Tracy Cole (Financial Access Initiative)

Click here to view more publications.

Commentary

• Some Things Don’t Change: Durable Skills for Future Workers by Haley Glover, UpSkill America
• A Clear Path Forward: Catalyzing Success for Working Learners in Texas Nursing Programs by Chelsea Miller, UpSkill America
• The Power to Shape What Comes Next: Writing the Future of Work Together by Liba Wenig Rubenstein, Future of Work Initiative, for our series, “Back to the Future of Work”

Click here to view more commentary.

Videos

Backsliding on Child Protections: The Return of Child Labor in the US, featuring Yesenia Cuello (NC Field), Reid Maki (National Consumers League), Ron Estrada (Farmworker Justice), Nina Mast (Economic Policy Institute), Charlie Wishman (Iowa Federation of Labor), and moderator Kristina Cooke (Reuters).

• The Cost of Cheap Food: Our Children’s Futures — Yesenia Cuello
• Crossing the Line: When a Job Costs an Education — Reid Maki
• Farmworker Justice: The Reality of Child Labor in US Agriculture — Ron Estrada
• Progress and Pushback: The Changing Landscape of Child Labor — Nina Mast
• Exposing the Agenda: Stopping Hazardous Work Conditions for Children — Charlie Wishman

Bridging the Gap: Institutional Investment and Employee Ownership, from the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum, hosted in partnership with the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing. Related videos:

• Prudential Financial’s Sarah Keh Closes Day One of the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum
• The Ford Foundation’s Margot Brandenburg Speaks at the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum
• JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Gwyneth Galbraith Speaks at the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum

Live from Guild Opportunity Summit 2025: Speaking at this year’s Guild Opportunity Summit in San Diego, UpSkill America Associate Director Chelsea Miller shares her perspective on building talent locally and investing in solutions that help small and medium-sized businesses succeed. Watch via Guild on LinkedIn.

Click here to view more videos. Click here to subscribe.

Podcasts

• Backsliding on Child Protections: The Return of Child Labor in the US, featuring Yesenia Cuello (NC Field), Reid Maki (National Consumers League), Ron Estrada (Farmworker Justice), Nina Mast (Economic Policy Institute), Charlie Wishman (Iowa Federation of Labor), and moderator Kristina Cooke (Reuters).
• Bridging the Gap: Institutional Investment and Employee Ownership, from the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum, hosted in partnership with the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing.

Click here to view more podcasts. Click here to subscribe.

In the News

• New retail business applications are up, according to Census data. Marketplace’s Henry Epp interviewed Business Ownership Initiative Senior Director Joyce Klein to find out what’s driving the recent increase in new business applications in the US. The short answer? It’s “messy.” Listen here.

Newsletters

• Job Quality Newsletter — Low Quality, High Costs by Matt Helmer and Maureen Conway 
• From the Forum — Institutional Investment and Employee Ownership by Frances Almodovar
• Resource Roundup — The Social Contract of Work by Maxwell Johnson
• Resource Roundup — Life Beyond Work by Maxwell Johnson
• Upcoming Events — November 2025 by Economic Opportunities Program Staff
• Monthly Digest — October 2025 by Economic Opportunities Program Staff

Click here to view more newsletters. Click here to subscribe.

Upcoming Events

• January 21 — Beyond 9 to 5: Facilitating Good Jobs for People with Unpredictable Schedules (online).
• June 2-3, 2026 — Employee Ownership Ideas Forum (Washington DC and online). Registration will open in winter 2026. Click here to save the date.

Click here to view more events.