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

Reimagining Workforce and Economic Development in the South
Event

Reimagining Workforce and Economic Development in the South

Join the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program on April 1, 2026 from 2:00 to 3:15 Eastern for “Reimagining Workforce and Economic Development in the South” Join us for the third of four conversations with members of the Aspen Institute’s Job Quality Fellowship who are working in the South.

Maximizing the Value of Internships for Employers
Event

Maximizing the Value of Internships for Employers

Join UpSkill America and Strada on March 18, 2026 from 2:00 to 3:00 pm Eastern for a discussion on how leading companies define and measure the effectiveness of their programs to ensure a meaningful return on investment.

The New Era of Small Business Finance: Access, AI, and Accountability
Event

The New Era of Small Business Finance: Access, AI, and Accountability

The small business economy, and the capital that fuels it, are changing in dramatic ways. Innovations in financing, new patterns of entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence, and shifting market and policy dynamics are reshaping what it means to own, operate, and grow a small business in the United States.  Join the Aspen Institute’s Business Ownership Initiative and the Responsible Business Lending Coalition on March 5 to discuss the future of the small business economy and access to capital during this time of profound change. This event will feature keynotes and panels with policymakers, small business owners and advocates, lenders, and technologists on solutions to support responsible innovation and sustainable small business prosperity. To watch the livestream, visit this page on Thursday, March 5, at 1 p.m. ET: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/events/the-new-era-of-small-business-finance-access-ai-and-accountability/

Worker- and Community-Led Strategies for a Fairer Economy
Event

Worker- and Community-Led Strategies for a Fairer Economy

This event — hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program on Thursday, March 5 — is the second in its four-part event series on Fixing Work in the South. Drawing on the work of EOP’s Job Quality Fellows, this conversation — Worker- and Community-Led Strategies for a Fairer Economy — explores what kind of progress is possible when we lean on the expertise of workers and communities to inform strategy and empower them to shape a labor market that works for everyone.

Building New Narratives on Work and Opportunity in the US South
Event

Building New Narratives on Work and Opportunity in the US South

Join the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program on October 9th, 2025 from 2:00 to 3:15 Eastern for “Building New Narratives on Work and Opportunity in the US South.” Join us for the first of four conversations with members of the Aspen Institute’s Job Quality Fellowship who are working in the South.

Beyond 9 to 5: Facilitating Good Jobs for People with Unpredictable Schedules
Event

Beyond 9 to 5: Facilitating Good Jobs for People with Unpredictable Schedules

Join the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program on January 21, from 2 to 3:15 p.m. Eastern time, for “Beyond 9 to 5: Facilitating Good Jobs for People with Unpredictable Schedules.” This conversation will explore a range of strategies for ensuring that those who need a flexible and adaptable work arrangement don’t have to endure low quality jobs and low wages.

Back to the Future of Work: Revisiting the Past and Shaping the Future
Event

Back to the Future of Work: Revisiting the Past and Shaping the Future

In 2024, the Aspen Institute’s Future of Work Initiative launched an editorial series examining the lessons learned from a decade of “future of work” discourse, with contributions from leaders in academia, business, labor, policy, and philanthropy.

Big Impact, Big Challenges: Lessons from Collaborating with Large Businesses to Improve Job Quality
Event

Big Impact, Big Challenges: Lessons from Collaborating with Large Businesses to Improve Job Quality

Join experts from Worklife Partnership, WORC, and others as we examine the challenges and strategies for engaging and supporting large businesses in actively influencing positive economic outcomes for their low- and moderate income employees. 

Banking on Skills: Cara Collective and BMO Bank Partner for Change
Event

Banking on Skills: Cara Collective and BMO Bank Partner for Change

Hear the story of BMO Bank’s partnership with Cara Collective, and learn practical tips for removing barriers to opportunity for workers.

The Future of Equal Opportunity
Event

The Future of Equal Opportunity

“The Future of Equal Opportunity,” will explore the current landscape, emerging challenges, and the strategies needed to protect and strengthen opportunity in the American workplace.

Feeling the Heat: Workplace Safety in a Warming World
Event

Feeling the Heat: Workplace Safety in a Warming World

For the benefit of workers, businesses, and our society, we need to build workplace heat safety into our culture, policies, and practices if we are to adapt to our warming planet. Join the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program on Wednesday, July 30, at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time, on Zoom to learn about how the warming climate is affecting workers, and what policymakers, businesses, and labor are doing to keep workers safe. This event is part of EOP’s Opportunity in America conversation series.

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