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
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Microenterprise and the Poor: Findings from the Self-Employment Learning Project Five Year Survey of Microentrepreneurs

January 1, 1999
Economic Opportunities Program
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The Self-Employment Learning Project of the Aspen Institute tracked the progress of 405 individuals who were running microbusinesses for a five-year period from 1991 to 1997. Of these individuals, 133 were very poor — with households less than 150 percent of the poverty line — at the first year of the study. This report documents the experiences of these individuals in their efforts to get out of poverty and the progress of the businesses they operate.