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

We recognize that race, gender, and place intersect with and intensify the challenge of economic inequality and we address these dynamics by advancing an inclusive vision of economic justice. For over 25 years, EOP has focused on expanding individuals’ opportunities to connect to quality work, start businesses, and build economic stability that provides the freedom to pursue opportunity.

We collaborate with national and local leaders across the United States – nonprofit leaders, policymakers, labor leaders, business leaders, educators, academics, and more – and we actively seek input and ideas from individuals and communities affected by proposed approaches to address economic opportunity challenges. Through our leadership and fellowship programs; applied research and evaluation; data and analysis; and dialogue with diverse stakeholders, we work at both local and national levels to build understanding and galvanize action to address the challenge of economic opportunity in America.

Join our mailing list and follow us on social media for regular updates on our work.

Placeholder
Publications

Preliminary Findings on New Pathways to Scale

Placeholder
Publications

Scan of Community Development Reforms

Placeholder
Publications

Growth Rings: Communities and Trees

Moving the Microenterprise Field Forward: Priorities, Strategies and Roles
Publications

Moving the Microenterprise Field Forward: Priorities, Strategies and Roles

The microenterprise field must rally around a set of strategies that can make a difference for the millions of microentrepreneurs.

2007 MicroTest Outcomes: A Summary of Microentrepreneurs and their Businesses
Publications

2007 MicroTest Outcomes: A Summary of Microentrepreneurs and their Businesses

The first in a series of fact sheets drawn from client outcomes surveys, this concise report highlights findings from client outcomes surveys conducted by MicroTest members in 2007.

Revitalizing Rural Economies Through Entrepreneurship Development Systems
Publications

Revitalizing Rural Economies Through Entrepreneurship Development Systems

Entrepreneurship development systems are emerging across the country as rural practitioners seek more effective engines for rural revitalization.

FIELD Forum Issue 21 – Building Sustainability by Increasing Earned Revenue
Publications

FIELD Forum Issue 21 – Building Sustainability by Increasing Earned Revenue

The third forum in FIELD’s sustainability series explores how ACEnet (the Appalachian Center for Economic Networks) is using earned income as a strategy to achieve greater sustainability.

Providing Capital, Building Communities, Creating Impact: FY2006
Publications

Providing Capital, Building Communities, Creating Impact: FY2006

This publication, a product of the CDFI Data Project, documents the work of 505 community development finance institutions (CDFIs) investing $4.7 billion in new financing activity in Fiscal Year 2006, an investment linked to 35,609 jobs and 69,893 units of affordable housing.

Saving for Microenterprise Development
Publications

Saving for Microenterprise Development

Explores Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), matched savings account that that some microenterprise programs are offering to clients to help them accumulate savings that can be used to purchase business assets.

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.

Join Our Mailing List

To receive occasional emails about our work — including new publications, commentary, events, fellowships, and more — join our mailing list.

Connect on Social Media

For news and updates every day, connect with us on the social media platform of your choice.

More from the Economic Opportunities Program

Foundational Skills: National Survey Findings
Publications

Foundational Skills: National Survey Findings

This publication examines how fragmented skills, credentialing, and workforce data systems limit the potential of skills-based hiring and advancement, and outlines a shared vision for building the interoperable infrastructure needed to create a connected skills ecosystem that benefits workers, employers, educators, and governments.

Placeholder
Podcasts Videos

What Employee Ownership Means to Workers

This conversation is part of our Opportunity in America series, where we take a look at the economy, what’s working, what’s broken, and really how we fix it to make sure that everyone can succeed in today’s economy.

Resource Roundup: Wages and Affordability
Blog Posts
Room for Growth: A Survey of Upskilling Approaches — 2026 Analysis
Publications

Room for Growth: A Survey of Upskilling Approaches — 2026 Analysis

This publication examines how fragmented skills, credentialing, and workforce data systems limit the potential of skills-based hiring and advancement, and outlines a shared vision for building the interoperable infrastructure needed to create a connected skills ecosystem that benefits workers, employers, educators, and governments.

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

Insights from Focus Groups with Employee Owners