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

Reimagine Retail: A Conversation with Kathleen McLaughlin and Walter Isaacson
Event

Reimagine Retail: A Conversation with Kathleen McLaughlin and Walter Isaacson

Retail has long been one of the most influential industries in the United States. Currently the retail industry employs more than 15 million people, and it is projected to continue growing. How can we reimagine retail as a pathway to the middle class?

Finding Time: A Book Talk with Heather Boushey
Event

Finding Time: A Book Talk with Heather Boushey

In Finding Time: The Economics of Work-Life Conflict, economist Heather Boushey argues that resolving work-life conflicts is as vital for individuals and families as it is essential for realizing the country’s productive potential.

Can Inclusive Economic Development Build Better Jobs and a Stronger Regional Economy?
Event

Can Inclusive Economic Development Build Better Jobs and a Stronger Regional Economy?

Traditional economic development has left behind many people in communities across the country. How can more inclusive economic development strategies help?

The Next Big Idea: Portable Benefits for Independent Workers

The event will feature a series of panel discussions with key voices in the conversation around independent workers, in the on-demand economy and beyond.

The Next Big Idea: Portable Benefits for Independent Workers

This event explores the challenges and opportunities presented by the sharing or on-demand economy, including how we might adapt the social contract for workers in America in the wake of sweeping shifts in the economy.

Shop ‘til Who Drops? Exploring Retail Jobs this Holiday Season
Event

Shop ‘til Who Drops? Exploring Retail Jobs this Holiday Season

For retail employees, the holidays often amplify year-round job stress they already face. Recently, however, more retailers have begun looking at how business models could include better jobs for their workers.

The 1099 Economy: Exploring a New Social Contract for Employers, Employees, and Society
Event

The 1099 Economy: Exploring a New Social Contract for Employers, Employees, and Society

As the social contract between employers and employees deteriorates, how do workers access stable and adequate incomes, protections from abuse, and basic benefits like health care and retirement?

Can the Economy Still Work for Ordinary Americans?
Event

Can the Economy Still Work for Ordinary Americans?

Whether it’s news about growing inequality, declining economic mobility, the challenge of chronic unemployment or underemployment, or simply the daily struggle of American families working to make ends meet, the news about the economic standing of the typical American has not been good even as the indicators for the economy overall have been improving.

Launch of the Communities that Work Partnership
Event

Launch of the Communities that Work Partnership

The Communities that Work Partnership aims to build more effective, employer-led workforce initiatives across the country.

The Future of Worker Voice
Event

The Future of Worker Voice

The future of workers’ voice in shaping their jobs today and tomorrow is at a crossroads. Are traditional labor unions able to successfully represent workers today — especially those in fast-growing, low-wage service sector jobs?

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