Events and Webinars

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

Join our mailing list and follow us on social media to learn about upcoming events and webinars.


Upcoming and Recent Events

What Employee Ownership Means to Workers
Economic Opportunity

What Employee Ownership Means to Workers

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Work and the Social Contract in the Age of AI: Where do we go from here?
Economic Opportunity
Gouged — A Book Talk with Lindsay Owens
Economic Opportunity
Work and the Social Contract in the Age of AI: How did we get here?
Economic Opportunity
Disposable Workers: A Book Talk with MIT Sloan Professor Paul Osterman
Economic Opportunity
The Impact of Foundational Skills on Workforce Success
Economic Opportunity
Employee Ownership Ideas Forum 2026: Owning America’s Future
Economic Opportunity
Ownership During the AI Revolution
Economic Opportunity

Ownership During the AI Revolution

| Washington, DC

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When Work Isn’t Enough: Improving Job Quality for ALICE Households
Economic Opportunity
Investing in Job Quality in the South
Economic Opportunity

Investing in Job Quality in the South

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Current Series

Opportunity in America

2019—Present

Opportunity in America considers the changing landscape of economic opportunity in the US and implications for individuals, families, and communities across the country. The series highlights the ways in which issues of race, gender, and place exacerbate our economic divides, and ideas and innovations with potential to address these challenges and broaden access to quality opportunity.

Job Quality in Practice

2019—Present

Job Quality in Practice webinars provide actionable tools and guidance to support leaders across geographies and fields — including workforce development, economic development, capital deployment, policy, worker advocacy, business, and higher education — to engage in practical action to improve jobs in their local communities and connect to a growing national conversation.

Employee Ownership Ideas Forum

2023—Present

The Employee Ownership Ideas Forum — hosted in partnership with the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers University — convenes policymakers, practitioners, researchers, philanthropists, investors, and leaders of employee-owned companies to learn about and discuss the latest in policy, research, finance, and practice.


Previous Series

Event Archive

All Past Events from the Economic Opportunities Program

Economics Reimagined: A Discussion on Building a Human Rights Economy
Event

Economics Reimagined: A Discussion on Building a Human Rights Economy

Join us to explore the philosophies and values that shaped our economy, and discuss how to build a moral and inclusive economy.

Silhouette image of construction workers standing on scaffolding
Event

Procurement with Purpose: Improving Equity and Job Quality through Public Procurement

Government spending on goods and services exceeds $2 trillion per year in the US. Are these investments creating good jobs?

Overhead photo showing several people arranged in a circle, with their arms thrust forward and hands touching in the center
Event

Democratizing Work: The Role, Opportunities, and Challenges of Worker Cooperatives in the US

Cooperatives can promote less turnover, higher productivity, better pay, and higher job security. What can we do to support their growth?

Photo of two hands exchanging a set of keys
Event

Ownership at Work: A Discussion on Designing and Growing Employee Ownership

Employee ownership can share prosperity more equitably, improve job quality, and increase worker engagement. What can we learn from employee-owned firms?

A Defining Moment for Good Jobs
Event

A Defining Moment for Good Jobs

The Good Jobs Champions Group are leaders in business, labor, philanthropy, and more who have come together to develop a common definition of a good job.

Pathways to Digital Skills Development for Latino Workers
Event

Pathways to Digital Skills Development for Latino Workers

Learn about promising approaches to digital upskilling of Latino workers, students, and households implemented by organizations around the country.

Photo of two café workers looking at a tablet
Event

Opportunity by Design: A Discussion on Growing Worker Skills and Talent in the Workplace

How can we design jobs to boost equity and advancement, and expand work-based learning to those who need it most?

Photo of a Black bakery owner using a laptop. There is an "Open" sign on the counter, next to bread and pastries.
Event

Integrating Technology into CDFI Small Business Lending: The Real Deal

This session identifies the critical issues that CDFIs and their funders and investors must address to create value from/reap the benefits of technology.

For Better or Worse: Designing Jobs During Technological Change
Event

For Better or Worse: Designing Jobs During Technological Change

Technology can replace workers or make work less fulfilling. But it can also complement workers’ skills and improve wages, safety, and employee engagement.

Photo of a gavel with a hard hat, safety googles, and work gloves in the background.
Event

A Workers’ Bill of Rights: What We Want and How to Get There

Will today’s efforts lead to a renewed and expanded commitment to working people sharing in the country’s economic success?

Photo of a steelworker wearing a hard hat, safety goggles, and face mask.
Event

The Occupational Safety and Health Act: The Past and Future of Workers’ Well-Being

As we strive to confront inequity and build a safer workplace for all workers, what can we learn from the history of the Occupational and Safety Health Act?

Photo of a protest on the National Mall
Event

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act: Fulfilling the Promise of Equal Opportunity

The fight to be free from discrimination in employment and harassment in the workplace is ongoing. What can history teach us in the march toward equality?

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 Economic Opportunities Program

Building Economic Security: A Book Talk with Arindrajit Dube and Carrie Joy Grimes
Podcasts Videos

Building Economic Security: A Book Talk with Arindrajit Dube and Carrie Joy Grimes

Economic security shouldn’t be a lottery. Yet for millions of working families, stagnant wages and precarious jobs collide with the daily grind of managing money on shaky ground — leaving stability feeling less like a plan and more like a gamble. Fixing that takes more than one lever. It takes structural reform and the tools people need to take control of their financial lives, working together.

What Employee Ownership Means to Workers
Publications

What Employee Ownership Means to Workers

Firms differ in how equity or profit is allocated, how long the ownership structure is intended to last, and how workers participate in governance and the workplace, all of which affect how workers experience ownership.

Employer-Friendly Practices: A Guide for Higher Education
Publications

Employer-Friendly Practices: A Guide for Higher Education

This resource is designed to help colleges and universities become more employer-friendly and build the kind of institutional capacity that sustains and grows partnerships while simultaneously better serving working learners. It offers role-specific guidance for leaders across the institution, a self-assessment spanning five domains of practice, and a process for turning results into action, grounded in the conviction that institution/employer partnerships can become easier without compromising academic missions.

MillerKnoll: Developing Operations Leaders from Within and Beyond — A Case Study in Structured Talent Development
Publications

MillerKnoll: Developing Operations Leaders from Within and Beyond — A Case Study in Structured Talent Development

Bridge, Propel, and Career Academy are built on a practical philosophy: that MillerKnoll has great talent already inside the organization. Finding that talent, developing it, and aligning it to the right opportunities is key to its success. T

A Typology of State-Supported Work-Connected Learning Programs
Publications

A Typology of State-Supported Work-Connected Learning Programs

States invest in work-connected learning through dozens of distinct funding streams, grant programs, and agency initiatives, often developed independently over time by different administrations and agencies pursuing different goals.

Resource Roundup: Data Centers and the Workforce
Blog Posts