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

Employee Ownership

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.

Events

What Employee Ownership Means to Workers
Economic Opportunity

What Employee Ownership Means to Workers

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Employee Ownership Ideas Forum 2026: Owning America’s Future
Economic Opportunity

Employee Ownership Ideas Forum 2026: Owning America’s Future

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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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Strengthening Small Business through Employee Ownership

Strengthening Small Business through Employee Ownership

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Bridging the Gap: Institutional Investment and Employee Ownership

Bridging the Gap: Institutional Investment and Employee Ownership

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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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Photos — Employee Ownership Ideas Forum 2025

Photos — Employee Ownership Ideas Forum 2025

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Briefs — Employee Ownership Ideas Forum 2025

Briefs — Employee Ownership Ideas Forum 2025

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Logistics — Employee Ownership Ideas Forum 2025

Logistics — Employee Ownership Ideas Forum 2025

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Event Videos

Ownership During the AI Revolution
Podcasts Videos

Ownership During the AI Revolution

Shifting Culture to Advance Employee Ownership
Videos

Shifting Culture to Advance Employee Ownership

Fmr. NEC Deputy Director Bharat Ramamurti Keynotes the 2026 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum
Videos

Fmr. NEC Deputy Director Bharat Ramamurti Keynotes the 2026 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum

panel discussion about EO at EOIF26
Videos

Moving Institutional Capital into Employee Ownership

Margot Brandenburg speaking at EO Forum 2026
Videos

Ford Foundation’s Margot Brandenburg Keynotes the 2026 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum

Five Big Ideas for Employee Ownership (2026)
Videos

Five Big Ideas for Employee Ownership (2026)

Prudential Financial’s Paula D’Ambrosa Opens Day Two of the 2026 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum
Videos

Prudential Financial’s Paula D’Ambrosa Opens Day Two of the 2026 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum

Gwyneth Galbraith delivers closing remarks EOIF 26
Videos

JPMorganChase’s Gwyneth Galbraith Closes Day One of the 2026 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum

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.

Employee Ownership Plans According to Earnings, Gender, and Race in the United States
Publications

Employee Ownership Plans According to Earnings, Gender, and Race in the United States

WIOA, Employee Ownership, and Good Jobs: How Workforce Legislation Can Support Employee-Owned Companies and Boost Job Quality
Publications

WIOA, Employee Ownership, and Good Jobs: How Workforce Legislation Can Support Employee-Owned Companies and Boost Job Quality

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) was designed to help workers move “into high-quality jobs and careers and help employers hire and retain skilled workers.”

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

ESOPs in the Manufacturing Industry

Blog Posts

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Blog Posts

Economic Opportunities Program Monthly Digest — June 2026

Upcoming Events from the Economic Opportunities Program — June 2026
Blog Posts

Upcoming Events from the Economic Opportunities Program — June 2026

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Blog Posts

Economic Opportunities Program Monthly Digest — May 2026

Upcoming Events from the Economic Opportunities Program — May 2026
Blog Posts

Upcoming Events from the Economic Opportunities Program — May 2026

Upcoming Events from the Economic Opportunities Program — April 2026
Blog Posts

Upcoming Events from the Economic Opportunities Program — April 2026

We hope you’ll join us at one of our upcoming events. Everyone who registers will receive a link to the recording, so please sign up even if you can’t participate live.

Economic Opportunities Program Upcoming Events — March 2026
Blog Posts

Economic Opportunities Program Upcoming Events — March 2026

We hope you’ll join us at one of our upcoming events, which you can learn about here. Everyone who registers will receive a link to the recording, so please sign up even if you can’t participate live.

infographic of a newsletter on a tablet
Blog Posts

Economic Opportunities Program Monthly Digest — January 2026

We are pleased to present a selection of our work from the past month.

Resource Roundup: A Look at the Year Ahead
Blog Posts

Resource Roundup: A Look at the Year Ahead

Newsletters

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 Employee Ownership Advantage
Blog Posts

The Employee Ownership Advantage

Views from Capitol Hill
Blog Posts

Views from Capitol Hill

Five Big Ideas for Employee Ownership
Blog Posts

Five Big Ideas for Employee Ownership

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

Experiences from the Front Lines of Employee Ownership

What Employee Ownership Means to Workers
Event

What Employee Ownership Means to Workers

The Economic Opportunities Program’s forthcoming report, What Employee Ownership Means to Workers, shares the perspectives and experiences of workers at companies with different forms of employee ownership: ESOPs, EOTs, worker cooperatives, and broad-based equity compensation plans.

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Blog Posts

Economic Opportunities Program Monthly Digest — June 2026

Ownership During the AI Revolution
Podcasts Videos

Ownership During the AI Revolution

Shifting Culture to Advance Employee Ownership
Videos

Shifting Culture to Advance Employee Ownership

Fmr. NEC Deputy Director Bharat Ramamurti Keynotes the 2026 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum
Videos

Fmr. NEC Deputy Director Bharat Ramamurti Keynotes the 2026 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum

panel discussion about EO at EOIF26
Videos

Moving Institutional Capital into Employee Ownership

Margot Brandenburg speaking at EO Forum 2026
Videos

Ford Foundation’s Margot Brandenburg Keynotes the 2026 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum

Five Big Ideas for Employee Ownership (2026)
Videos

Five Big Ideas for Employee Ownership (2026)

Prudential Financial’s Paula D’Ambrosa Opens Day Two of the 2026 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum
Videos

Prudential Financial’s Paula D’Ambrosa Opens Day Two of the 2026 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum

Gwyneth Galbraith delivers closing remarks EOIF 26
Videos

JPMorganChase’s Gwyneth Galbraith Closes Day One of the 2026 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum

State Innovations in Employee Ownership
Videos

State Innovations in Employee Ownership

How Universal Capitalism Can Provide Economic Fairness: A Fireside Chat with Steven Hill
Videos

How Universal Capitalism Can Provide Economic Fairness: A Fireside Chat with Steven Hill

TEam

Maureen Conway

Vice President; Executive Director

Policy Programs

Matt Helmer

Director of Job Quality and Worker Well-Being

Policy Programs

Maxwell Johnson

Senior Research Associate

Policy Programs

Merrit Stüven

Associate Director

Policy Programs

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

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.