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Job creation is a central reason why CDFIs support small businesses. But some CDFIs recognize that simply increasing the quantity of jobs available is not enough to enhance economic opportunity — the quality of the jobs matters, too.
In an economy that is increasingly reliant on too many unstable, low-paying jobs, these CDFIs recognize that integrating a focus on job quality into their work improves their ability to achieve their mission, because it can both strengthen the businesses themselves and provide better jobs for workers.
This Q&A provides insights and lessons from the work of 11 CDFIs that participated in Shared Success, a job quality demonstration led by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program (EOP). As part of the demonstration, EOP provided grants to the 11 CDFIs to support staffing and other costs related to providing job quality services, as well as to help the CDFIs provide financial incentives related to job quality to their small business clients. This guide focuses on key questions that CDFIs might have about this emerging area of practice to help them and their key stakeholders learn how to integrate a focus on job quality into their own work.
Shared Success, a project of the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program, shows how building better jobs can simultaneously uplift workers while also driving small business success.
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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Video — Shared Success, a project of the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program, is grounded in the understanding that building better jobs and building stronger businesses go hand in hand.
This infographic shares statistics on impact of the Economic Opportunities Program’s Shared Success demonstration. Dive into a detailed breakdown of the diverse businesses and entrepreneurs involved in this work.
This brief shares key lessons and takeaways that could be used to implement internal job quality practices to strengthen CDFIs and other small business support organizations.
Supporting small business owners in understanding and acting on workers’ perspectives is a promising practice for simultaneously advancing job quality and small business development organizations’ missions to promote economic resilience.
Comprehensive findings from qualitative and quantitative research on participating small business owners and workers conducted at the end of the demonstration will be released in spring 2026.
This endline evaluation of the Shared Success demonstration aims to understand the impact of the work of the 11 community lenders who integrated job quality programming into their small business support services.
