Publications & Events

BOI shares findings from its research, evaluation, and peer learning activities in a variety of formats. Our publications share emerging and best practices, document data findings, and identify critical industry and market trends. Browse our publication topics below, or search our full list of publications here.

We also host public events and webinars that highlight industry trends, share research results, and illuminate strategies for addressing issues relating to business ownership and economic opportunity. Many of our events are co-sponsored with our colleague programs at the Aspen Institute.

Explore the Archive

All Publications from the Business Ownership Initiative

Enhancing Economic Opportunity through Entrepreneurship
Publications

Enhancing Economic Opportunity through Entrepreneurship

The Ms. Foundation established CFWED in 1991 to support organizations helping low-income women start and grow microenterprise, community-based, and cooperative businesses.

Enhancing Employment Opportunities for Women: 2003 findings from the third round of the Collaborative Fund for Women’s Economic Development
Publications

Enhancing Employment Opportunities for Women: 2003 findings from the third round of the Collaborative Fund for Women’s Economic Development

Between 2001 and 2004, the Ms. Foundation provided funding and technical support to eight women-run organizations across the country that manage social purpose businesses to create jobs and promote women’s economic empowerment.

Enhancing Opportunities for Entrepreneurship
Publications

Enhancing Opportunities for Entrepreneurship

Between 2001 and 2004, the Ms. Foundation for Women, through the Collaborative Fund for Women’s Economic Development (CFWED), provided funding and technical support to nine organizations across the country that help low-income women to start and expand microenterprises.

Enhancing Employment for Low-Income Women: Lessons learned from the third round of the Collaborative Fund for Women’s Economic Development
Publications

Enhancing Employment for Low-Income Women: Lessons learned from the third round of the Collaborative Fund for Women’s Economic Development

This report provides insight into the employment outcomes and business performance of nine firms.

FIELD Forum Issue 15 – Microenterprises in the US Informal Economy: Summary Research Findings
Publications

FIELD Forum Issue 15 – Microenterprises in the US Informal Economy: Summary Research Findings

Microentrepreneurs are a strong and natural presence in this economy. Invisible to many because of their size, they are also invisible to the tax collector, municipal authorities and state regulatory bodies.

Providing Capital, Building Communities, Creating Impact: FY2002 
Publications

Providing Capital, Building Communities, Creating Impact: FY2002 

This report, a product of the CDFI Data Project (CDP), presents fiscal year 2002 data collected from 442 CDFIs.

Staying Connected: Building Entrepreneurial Networks
Publications

Staying Connected: Building Entrepreneurial Networks

Volume six of FIELD’s Best Practice series explores the ways in which “networking” can be supported by microenterprise assistance programs.

The Informal Economy: Making It In Rural America
Publications

The Informal Economy: Making It In Rural America

This FIELD publication examines the experiences of 29 entrepreneurs living and working in several rural counties in Nebraska.

Research Report No. 3 – Microenterprise as a Welfare to Work Strategy: Two-Year Findings
Publications

Research Report No. 3 – Microenterprise as a Welfare to Work Strategy: Two-Year Findings

This third and final report on FIELD’s Welfare to Work Learning Assessment describes outcomes experienced two years after TANF clients enrolled in microenterprise programs.

The Informal Economy: Experiences of African Americans
Publications

The Informal Economy: Experiences of African Americans

This publication explores the experiences of African Americans who either operate their own informal businesses or are employed informally.

The Informal Economy: Latino Enterprises at the Margins
Publications

The Informal Economy: Latino Enterprises at the Margins

What are the barriers Latino entrepreneurs face and how might they be helped to move from the informal to the “formal” economy?

Business First: Using Technology to Advance Microenterprise Development
Publications

Business First: Using Technology to Advance Microenterprise Development

This fifth Best Practice Guide navigates the whirlwind of the technological revolution, introducing a framework by which microenterprise practitioners can use technology to enhance and expand their business, and offering practitioners guidance on assisting their clients with technology needs.

About the Business Ownership Initiative

The Business Ownership Initiative, an initiative of the Economic Opportunities Program, works to build understanding and strengthen the role of business ownership as an economic opportunity strategy.

About the Economic Opportunities Program

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

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More from the Business Ownership Initiative

Metrics that Matter: Improving Financial Analysis of CDFI Small Business Lenders
Podcasts Videos

Metrics that Matter: Improving Financial Analysis of CDFI Small Business Lenders

CDFI boards, leadership teams, investors, and regulators have long relied on a familiar set of financial metrics to assess organizational performance.

From Crisis to Continuity: Optimizing CDFI Capital and Partnerships for Natural Disaster Response
Publications

From Crisis to Continuity: Optimizing CDFI Capital and Partnerships for Natural Disaster Response

Traditional emergency aid through SBA or FEMA takes time, and lower-income communities often face significant approval hurdles. Speed is essential to business survival.

The New Era of Small Business Finance: Access, AI, and Accountability (Highlight reel)
Videos

The New Era of Small Business Finance: Access, AI, and Accountability (Highlight reel)

VIDEO — Highlight reel from “The New Era of Small Business Finance: Access, AI, and Accountability,” a forum hosted by the Aspen Institute’s Business Ownership Initiative and the Responsible Business Lending Coalition on March 5, 2026.

The Changing Role of Small Business Ownership
Videos

The Changing Role of Small Business Ownership

VIDEO — This discussion is the first of three that took place as part of “The New Era of Small Business Finance: Access, AI, and Accountability,” a forum hosted by the Aspen Institute’s Business Ownership Initiative and the Responsible Business Lending Coalition on March 5, 2026.

Main Street Challenges and Policy Solutions
Videos

Main Street Challenges and Policy Solutions

VIDEO — This discussion is the third of three that took place as part of “The New Era of Small Business Finance: Access, AI, and Accountability,” a forum hosted by the Aspen Institute’s Business Ownership Initiative and the Responsible Business Lending Coalition on March 5, 2026.

Innovations Driving Small Business Lending Forward: It’s Not All About AI
Videos

Innovations Driving Small Business Lending Forward: It’s Not All About AI

VIDEO — This discussion is the second of three that took place as part of “The New Era of Small Business Finance: Access, AI, and Accountability,” a forum hosted by the Aspen Institute’s Business Ownership Initiative and the Responsible Business Lending Coalition on March 5, 2026.

To Help Small Businesses Recover From the L.A. Fires, Invest in Community Lenders
Blog Posts

To Help Small Businesses Recover From the L.A. Fires, Invest in Community Lenders

Nonprofit lenders often deploy funds faster than the government but need more capital to meet demand.

Integrating a Job Quality Practice in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs): A Q&A
Publications

Integrating a Job Quality Practice in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs): A Q&A

This Q&A provides insights and lessons from the work of 11 CDFIs that participated in Shared Success, a job quality demonstration led by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program (EOP).