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.

FIELD Forum Issue 20 – Capital Structure: Getting it Right to Increase Sustainability
Publications

FIELD Forum Issue 20 – Capital Structure: Getting it Right to Increase Sustainability

This forum, the second in FIELD’s sustainability series, examines how Justine Petersen, an organization in St. Louis, Mo., is pursuing equity capital as part of a scale-up and sustainability strategy.

Systems Change: A Survey Of Program Activities
Publications

Systems Change: A Survey Of Program Activities

This publication explores ways sector initiatives engage in “systems change” activities to help address structural issues that hamper their success.

Social Enterprise and Microenterprise: Understanding the Connection
Publications

Social Enterprise and Microenterprise: Understanding the Connection

Explores how the microenterprise industry is connecting with the emerging social enterprise field.

FIELD Forum Issue 19 – Blazing a Trail to Sustainability Through Social Enterprise: A Case Example
Publications

FIELD Forum Issue 19 – Blazing a Trail to Sustainability Through Social Enterprise: A Case Example

This forum focuses on social enterprises as a way for microenterprise programs to increase their sustainability.

Sector Strategies In Brief
Publications

Sector Strategies In Brief

This publication is designed to provide a concise overview of the elements and outcomes associated with sector work.

Sectoral Strategies for Low-Income Workers: Lessons from the Field
Publications

Sectoral Strategies for Low-Income Workers: Lessons from the Field

This publication examines the sectoral development field, explaining how it differs from other workforce development approaches, how it has grown over time, what is has achieved, and how it can be used to strengthen regional economies and business competitiveness.

Providing Capital, Building Communities, Creating Impact: FY2005
Publications

Providing Capital, Building Communities, Creating Impact: FY2005

This publication, a product of the CDFI Data Project, documents the work of 496 community development finance institutions (CDFIs) investing $4.3 billion in Fiscal Year 2005, an investment linked to 39,151 jobs and 55,242 units of affordable housing.

Making the Economic Development Connection
Publications

Making the Economic Development Connection

Examines how microenterprise development programs and the enterprises they assist can further economic development strategies.

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Publications

Update Issue 4: Sector Initiatives and Community Colleges:

This issue takes an in-depth look at strategic collaborations between community colleges and community-based sectoral employment initiatives.

The Emerging Immigrant Market and Microenterprise
Publications

The Emerging Immigrant Market and Microenterprise

Looks at how microenterprise programs are assisting immigrant entrepreneurs and what funders can do to advance those efforts.

Pursuing Sustainability in the Microenterprise Field
Publications

Pursuing Sustainability in the Microenterprise Field

An exploration of current research and writing on the issue of sustainability in the microenterprise field.

Going Faster and Farther: Harnessing Technology for Microenterprise
Publications

Going Faster and Farther: Harnessing Technology for Microenterprise

Explores innovative ways that technology can be used by both microenterprise development programs and microentrepreneurs

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

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.

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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