Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.

Walter P. Paepcke, Aspen Institute Co-Founder

Opportunity in America

Opportunity in America, an event series hosted by the Economic Opportunities Program, 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.

Is America living up to our aspirations to be a real “land of opportunity?” Even as the economy’s expansion continues, mobility is in decline while inequality reaches alarming heights. How should we define opportunity in the era ahead? How can we ensure that everyone has equitable access to it? Opportunity in America explores the changing nature of opportunity, who is and isn’t included, and concrete ideas for expanding access to quality economic opportunities.

Opportunity in America builds on our Working in America events, which examined how the changing nature of work influenced access to opportunity in America, particularly for low- and moderate-income workers, but also broaden the lens to more intentionally include business ownership strategies as a key route to accessing economic opportunity in the US. We hope you will join us as we seek to advance strategies, policies, and ideas to ensure all have a fair shot to pursue their American Dream.

To learn about upcoming events, join our mailing list and follow us on social media.

Recent and Upcoming Events

Building Economic Security: A Book Talk with Arindrajit Dube and Carrie Joy Grimes
Economic Opportunity

Building Economic Security: A Book Talk with Arindrajit Dube and Carrie Joy Grimes

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What Employee Ownership Means to Workers
Economic Opportunity

What Employee Ownership Means to Workers

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Disposable Workers: A Book Talk with MIT Sloan Professor Paul Osterman
Economic Opportunity

Disposable Workers: A Book Talk with MIT Sloan Professor Paul Osterman

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The Necessity of Employee-Centered Strategies: A Book Talk with Steve Dawson and Jerry Rubin
Economic Opportunity

The Necessity of Employee-Centered Strategies: A Book Talk with Steve Dawson and Jerry Rubin

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Coming of Age at Work: Good Jobs for Teens
Economic Opportunity

Coming of Age at Work: Good Jobs for Teens

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Backsliding on Child Protections: The Return of Child Labor in the US
Economic Opportunity

Backsliding on Child Protections: The Return of Child Labor in the US

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The Future of Equal Opportunity
Economic Opportunity

The Future of Equal Opportunity

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Feeling the Heat: Workplace Safety in a Warming World
Economic Opportunity

Feeling the Heat: Workplace Safety in a Warming World

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Marketcrafters: The 100-Year Struggle To Shape the American Economy — A Book Talk with Chris Hughes

Marketcrafters: The 100-Year Struggle To Shape the American Economy — A Book Talk with Chris Hughes

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How Good Jobs Support Small Business Success: Lessons from the Shared Success Demonstration
Economic Opportunity

How Good Jobs Support Small Business Success: Lessons from the Shared Success Demonstration

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Working and Homeless in America — A Book Talk with Brian Goldstone — Resources

Working and Homeless in America — A Book Talk with Brian Goldstone — Resources

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Working and Homeless in America — A Book Talk with Brian Goldstone – Transcript

Working and Homeless in America — A Book Talk with Brian Goldstone – Transcript

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Event Recordings

Disposable Workers: A Book Talk with MIT Sloan Professor Paul Osterman
Podcasts Videos

Disposable Workers: A Book Talk with MIT Sloan Professor Paul Osterman

For decades, economists and policymakers have debated how to help workers get better jobs. But what if the more fundamental problem is that employers have systematically redesigned work itself to make a third of the workforce expendable? In his forthcoming book, “Disposable Workers: The Transformation of Employment,” MIT Sloan Professor Emeritus Paul Osterman examines this idea and what it would take to reverse it.

The Necessity of Employee-Centered Strategies: A Book Talk with Steve Dawson and Jerry Rubin
Podcasts Videos

The Necessity of Employee-Centered Strategies: A Book Talk with Steve Dawson and Jerry Rubin

This is the final event in our Job Quality in Practice series. In this conversation, hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program on May 7, 2026, we hear from the Institute’s Job Quality Fellows who are embedding job quality into their work across a range of contexts and strategies — from employee ownership models that give workers a direct financial stake in their company’s success, to apprenticeship programs that create structured pathways to higher-wage careers, to worker advisory committees that bring employee voice into business decision-making.

Coming of Age at Work: Good Jobs for Teens
Podcasts Videos

Coming of Age at Work: Good Jobs for Teens

This event — hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program and the Forum for Community Solutions on April 21, 2026 — explores how to create meaningful work opportunities for teens while protecting them from dangerous and exploitative conditions

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Podcasts Videos

Backsliding on Child Protections: The Return of Child Labor in the US

For highlights from this discussion, subscribe to our YouTube channel. Or subscribe to our podcast to listen on the go.

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

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

This event draws on insights from our Workforce Leadership Academies. For highlights from this discussion, subscribe to EOP’s YouTube channel. Or subscribe to our podcast to listen on the go.

The Future of Equal Opportunity
Videos

The Future of Equal Opportunity

A core shared value in American society, one deeply woven into our national narrative, is the belief in equal opportunity — the idea that everyone should have a fair chance to succeed based on their effort, talent, and ambition, regardless of their background.

Feeling the Heat: Workplace Safety in a Warming World
Videos

Feeling the Heat: Workplace Safety in a Warming World

In this event — hosted by the Economic Opportunities Program on July 30, 2025 — we learn how the warming climate is affecting workers, and what policymakers, businesses, and labor are doing to keep workers safe.

Working and Homeless in America — A Book Talk with Brian Goldstone
Videos

Working and Homeless in America — A Book Talk with Brian Goldstone

This virtual book talk — hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program on April 30, 2025 — features Goldstone in conversation with moderator Maureen Conway, a vice president at the Aspen Institute and executive director of the Institute’s Economic Opportunities Program.

Event Archive

Past Events in the Opportunity in America Series

photo-close-up-of-letters-ESOP-word-is-written-on-wooden-cubes-on-a-blue-background
Event

ESOPs, Job Quality, and Wealth Inequality: The Potential of Employee Stock Ownership Plans

ESOPs can be a valuable tool to create better jobs, build wealth, and increase businesses’ resiliency while reducing employee turnover.

photo with cashier in the foreground
Event

Still Broke: Walmart’s Remarkable Transformation and the Limits of Socially Conscious Capitalism — A Book Talk and Panel Conversation

Work must contribute to an inclusive economy in which all can thrive. Do we need stronger public action to make that happen?

The Promise of Guaranteed Income: A New Tool to Improve Jobs and Empower Workers
Event

The Promise of Guaranteed Income: A New Tool to Improve Jobs and Empower Workers

Guaranteed income can give workers the agency to leave low-quality jobs and pursue better opportunities — which raises the floor for all.

The Great Escape: A True Story of Forced Labor and Immigrant Dreams in America — A Book Talk with Saket Soni
Event

The Great Escape: A True Story of Forced Labor and Immigrant Dreams in America — A Book Talk with Saket Soni

Immigrants play a critical role in our economy, but many face exploitation and abuse. What do their experiences tell us about work in the US?

Economics Reimagined: A Discussion on Building a Human Rights Economy
Event

Economics Reimagined: A Discussion on Building a Human Rights Economy

Join us to explore the philosophies and values that shaped our economy, and discuss how to build a moral and inclusive economy.

Silhouette image of construction workers standing on scaffolding
Event

Procurement with Purpose: Improving Equity and Job Quality through Public Procurement

Government spending on goods and services exceeds $2 trillion per year in the US. Are these investments creating good jobs?

Overhead photo showing several people arranged in a circle, with their arms thrust forward and hands touching in the center
Event

Democratizing Work: The Role, Opportunities, and Challenges of Worker Cooperatives in the US

Cooperatives can promote less turnover, higher productivity, better pay, and higher job security. What can we do to support their growth?

Photo of two hands exchanging a set of keys
Event

Ownership at Work: A Discussion on Designing and Growing Employee Ownership

Employee ownership can share prosperity more equitably, improve job quality, and increase worker engagement. What can we learn from employee-owned firms?

Photo of two café workers looking at a tablet
Event

Opportunity by Design: A Discussion on Growing Worker Skills and Talent in the Workplace

How can we design jobs to boost equity and advancement, and expand work-based learning to those who need it most?

For Better or Worse: Designing Jobs During Technological Change
Event

For Better or Worse: Designing Jobs During Technological Change

Technology can replace workers or make work less fulfilling. But it can also complement workers’ skills and improve wages, safety, and employee engagement.

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

Resource Roundup: Data Centers and the Workforce
Blog Posts

Resource Roundup: Data Centers and the Workforce

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Blog Posts

Economic Opportunities Program Monthly Digest — September 2026

Work and the Social Contract in the Age of AI: How did we get here?
Podcasts Videos

Work and the Social Contract in the Age of AI: How did we get here?

“Social contract” has quickly become one of the most-used, least-defined phrases in the AI policy conversation. This first event in a two-part series will trace the origin and history of the American social contract, examining how work became the anchor of economic security, mobility, and civic identity in the United States.

Disposable Workers: A Book Talk with MIT Sloan Professor Paul Osterman
Podcasts Videos

Disposable Workers: A Book Talk with MIT Sloan Professor Paul Osterman

For decades, economists and policymakers have debated how to help workers get better jobs. But what if the more fundamental problem is that employers have systematically redesigned work itself to make a third of the workforce expendable? In his forthcoming book, “Disposable Workers: The Transformation of Employment,” MIT Sloan Professor Emeritus Paul Osterman examines this idea and what it would take to reverse it.

Building an Ownership Culture: From the Shop Floor to the National Narrative
Blog Posts

Building an Ownership Culture: From the Shop Floor to the National Narrative

The Workforce of the Future Starts with Adult Basic Education
Blog Posts

The Workforce of the Future Starts with Adult Basic Education

To create a future-ready workforce system, we must move beyond outdated credentials and analog processes to one that is skills-first, transparent, data-driven, and aligned with the evolving needs of workers, educators, and employers.

Foundational Skills: Early Insights from Employers and Providers
Publications

Foundational Skills: Early Insights from Employers and Providers

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.

How Tax Policy Can Help Employers Expand Access to Learning
Podcasts Videos

How Tax Policy Can Help Employers Expand Access to Learning

In this interview, Chelsea Miller of Upskill America speaks with Nick Greif of InStride about how employers can design education benefits that are more accessible, strategic, and aligned with workforce goals.