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

Workers at a poultry factory wearing protective clothing and masks
Event

Workers On the Line: Improving Jobs in Meat and Poultry Processing

In this conversation, our panelists will discuss the challenges workers face, ideas for improving the jobs and well-being of workers in the meat and poultry processing world, and the policies and practices that could reshape this industry to build a sustainable system where workers, consumers, and businesses thrive together.

Launching the Good Jobs Collaborative: Centering Workers in Workforce Development Policy and Practice
Event

Launching the Good Jobs Collaborative: Centering Workers in Workforce Development Policy and Practice

Centering Workers in Workforce Development Policy and Practice

silhouette of farmer wearing a hat working in the fields at sunset
Event

Job Quality in the Fields: Improving Farm Work in the US

Farm workers play an essential role in feeding our nation’s families. Better jobs for farm workers are possible and within reach.

Workforce Leadership Café #5 — Ohio Workforce Coalition + NYATEP
Event

Workforce Leadership Café #5 — Ohio Workforce Coalition + NYATEP

Learn how the Ohio Workforce Coalition and the New York Association for Training and Development Professionals (NYATEP) are collaborating and shaping workforce services.

Workforce Leadership Café #4 — Greater Memphis Chamber
Event

Workforce Leadership Café #4 — Greater Memphis Chamber

The Memphis Chamber is the voice of business and the lead economic development agency for the region, and it’s the sponsor of a Workforce Leadership Academy in 2023.

The Alternative: How to Build a Just Economy – A Book Talk with Nick Romeo
Event

The Alternative: How to Build a Just Economy – A Book Talk with Nick Romeo

In this conversation — which took place on January 24, 2024 — we hear author Nick Romeo and moderator Maureen Conway (Vice President, The Aspen Institute; Executive Director, Economic Opportunities Program) discuss his new book and invite guests to imagine what a more humane economy could be.

Workforce Leadership Café #3 — United Way of Central Maryland + Scranton Area Community Foundation
Event

Workforce Leadership Café #3 — United Way of Central Maryland + Scranton Area Community Foundation

Have a seat in the Café to listen in on a conversation between community-based funders who have hosted Workforce Leadership Academies in very different settings.

image of the words "employee benefits" and different icons
Event

How Benefits Make Jobs Better

This event will consider the promise and potential of workplace benefits in the US, including key challenges and innovative approaches.

Workforce Leadership Café #2 — Workforce Solutions Alamo
Event

Workforce Leadership Café #2 — Workforce Solutions Alamo

Local workforce investment boards can play a pivotal role in fostering an innovative, agile, and equitable workforce development ecosystem in the Alamo region of Texas.

Reimagining the Business-Labor Playbook for the 21st Century
Event

Reimagining the Business-Labor Playbook for the 21st Century

Hear from a new wave of business leaders who understand they need to reimagine their relationship with organized workers and from the leader of the biggest federation of unions, who is ready to innovate and work together with business to achieve shared prosperity.

Workforce Leadership Café #1 — Pima Community College + Center for the Future of Arizona
Event

Workforce Leadership Café #1 — Pima Community College + Center for the Future of Arizona

A partnership between Pima Community College and the Center for the Future of Arizona is investing in leaders of the workforce development system.

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