Employee Ownership Ideas Forum

The Employee Ownership Ideas Forum brings together leading policymakers, practitioners, experts, and the media for a robust discussion on how we can grow employee ownership for the shared benefit of American workers and businesses.

It is hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program and Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing.

Blog Posts

Institutional Investment and Employee Ownership
Blog Posts

Institutional Investment and Employee Ownership

Securing The Future of America’s Critical Industries
Blog Posts

Securing The Future of America’s Critical Industries

Graphic image featuring headshots of four speakers: Adria Powell, Michael Quarrey, Xavier de Souza Briggs, Chris Griswold
Blog Posts

The Future of the American Worker

Graphic image featuring headshots of four speakers: Sarah St.Onge, Adrian Flores, Ashley Bell, and Juan Carlos Lopez.
Blog Posts
Graphic image featuring headshots of three speakers: Rachel Hockenberger, Sean-Tamba Matthew, and Kevin Clegg.
Blog Posts

Small Business, Community, and Local Ownership

Publications

Policy Brief on the Study, “Employee Share Ownership, Management Practices, and Labor Productivity: An Analysis Using Establishment Level Micro-Data from the US Census”
Publications

Policy Brief on the Study, “Employee Share Ownership, Management Practices, and Labor Productivity: An Analysis Using Establishment Level Micro-Data from the US Census”

  • Fidan Ana Kurtulus
  • Eric Hoyt
  • Paige Ouimet
  • Joseph Blasi
  • Douglas Kruse
  • Richard Freeman
  • William Castellano
Employee Ownership and ESOPs: What We Know from Recent Research (2026)
Publications

Employee Ownership and ESOPs: What We Know from Recent Research (2026)

  • Joseph Blasi
  • Douglas Kruse
Employee Ownership and ESOPs – What We Know from Recent Research
Publications

Employee Ownership and ESOPs – What We Know from Recent Research

  • Joseph Blasi
  • Douglas Kruse
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Publications

How Many Firms Are Good Candidates for Employee Ownership?

  • Matt Mazewski, Ph.D.
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Publications

Ownership With a Purpose

This profile of Clegg Auto illustrates the company’s experience becoming employee-owned, the innovative holding company model it pursued, and its employees’ perspective on the transition and what ownership means to them.

ATTACHMENT DETAILS Cover-ESOPs-in-the-Manufacturing-Industry
Publications

ESOPs in the Manufacturing Industry

ESOPs in Rural Areas
Publications

ESOPs in Rural Areas

  • Douglas Kruse
  • Joseph Blasi
  • Jack Moriarty

Events

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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Industry Spotlight: Healthcare

Industry Spotlight: Healthcare

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The Future of the American Worker

The Future of the American Worker

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Five Big Ideas for Employee Ownership

Five Big Ideas for Employee Ownership

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Video Archive

Videos from the Employee Ownership Ideas Forum

Tammy Miller, former Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota, Speaks at the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum
Videos

Tammy Miller, former Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota, Speaks at the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum

In this clip, Tammy Miller, former lieutenant governor of North Dakota, speaks at the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum.

The Employee Ownership Agenda: Views from the Hill
Videos

The Employee Ownership Agenda: Views from the Hill

A new Congress and presidential administration always bring about change for any issue. However, employee ownership stands out as unique because it has been an issue of strong bipartisan support. As this new Congress and administration begins, what is on the horizon for employee ownership? What are the legislative opportunities and challenges? Policy experts discuss these questions in this conversation from the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum.

AEI’s Alex Brill Speaks at the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum
Videos

AEI’s Alex Brill Speaks at the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum

In this clip, AEI’S Alex Brill speaks at the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum.

Fireside Chat: The Ownership Advantage
Podcasts Videos

Fireside Chat: The Ownership Advantage

In this conversation from the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum, leaders from employee-owned companies discuss how ownership drives business success.

CUNY’s Jessica Gordon-Nembhard Shares Her Big Idea for Employee Ownership
Videos

CUNY’s Jessica Gordon-Nembhard Shares Her Big Idea for Employee Ownership

This video comes from the third Employee Ownership Ideas Forum, hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program and the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing.

ESOP Association President Jim Bonham Speaks at the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum
Videos

ESOP Association President Jim Bonham Speaks at the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum

In this clip, ESOP Association President Jim Bonham speaks at the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum.

ESCA President Stephanie Silverman Speaks at the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum
Videos

ESCA President Stephanie Silverman Speaks at the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum

ESCA President Stephanie Silverman Speaks at the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum

Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen Speaks at the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum
Videos

Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen Speaks at the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum

In this clip, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen speaks at the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum.

UNI’s Leslie Wilson Shares Her Big Idea for Employee Ownership
Videos

UNI’s Leslie Wilson Shares Her Big Idea for Employee Ownership

In this clip, UNI’s Leslie Wilson speaks at the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum.

Expanding ESOPs’ Danny Massey Speaks at the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum
Videos

Expanding ESOPs’ Danny Massey Speaks at the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum

In this clip, Expanding ESOPs’ Danny Massey speaks at the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum.

Strengthening Small Business Through Employee Ownership
Videos

Strengthening Small Business Through Employee Ownership

In this discussion from the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum, panelists discuss what employee ownership looks like in small businesses and how employee ownership can increase their strength and resiliency.

Industry Spotlight: Healthcare and Employee Ownership
Videos

Industry Spotlight: Healthcare and Employee Ownership

In this conversation from the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum, panelists examine the current state of employee ownership in healthcare and how the model might help strengthen the industry.

About the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing

The purpose of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing is to study the various models that have emerged and will emerge of employee ownership shares and profit shares in the corporation and society of the United States and around the world.

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

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Podcasts Videos

What Employee Ownership Means to Workers

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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

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.