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

What Employee Ownership Means to Workers
Economic Opportunity

What Employee Ownership Means to Workers

View Event

Work and the Social Contract in the Age of AI: Where do we go from here?
Economic Opportunity
Gouged — A Book Talk with Lindsay Owens
Economic Opportunity

Event Recordings

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.

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

Placeholder
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.

Event Archive

Past Events in the Opportunity in America Series

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

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.

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

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.

Coming of Age at Work: Good Jobs for Teens
Event

Coming of Age at Work: Good Jobs for Teens

Join the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program on April 21, 2026 from 2:00 to 3:30 Eastern for “Coming of Age at Work: Good Jobs for Teens”.

The Future of Equal Opportunity
Event

The Future of Equal Opportunity

“The Future of Equal Opportunity,” will explore the current landscape, emerging challenges, and the strategies needed to protect and strengthen opportunity in the American workplace.

Feeling the Heat: Workplace Safety in a Warming World
Event

Feeling the Heat: Workplace Safety in a Warming World

For the benefit of workers, businesses, and our society, we need to build workplace heat safety into our culture, policies, and practices if we are to adapt to our warming planet. Join the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program on Wednesday, July 30, at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time, on Zoom to learn about how the warming climate is affecting workers, and what policymakers, businesses, and labor are doing to keep workers safe. This event is part of EOP’s Opportunity in America conversation series.

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

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

Markets and our economy don’t just happen — they’re crafted. While we often hear about the “free market” as a natural force governed by the invisible hand, the reality is far more intentional.

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

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

Only 56% of full-time workers in the United States make enough money to cover their families basic needs. Job quality is vital not only for workers, but also for small businesses and communities.

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

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

“There Is No Place for Us” not only brings these unseen lives into focus but also forces us to confront a pressing question: If hard work is no longer enough to keep a roof over one’s head, what does that say about the promise of economic opportunity in the US?

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.

Join Our Mailing List

To receive occasional emails about our work — including new publications, commentary, events, fellowships, and more — join our mailing list.

Connect on Social Media

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

More from the Economic Opportunities Program

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

Firms differ in how equity or profit is allocated, how long the ownership structure is intended to last, and how workers participate in governance and the workplace, all of which affect how workers experience ownership.

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.

MillerKnoll: Developing Operations Leaders from Within and Beyond — A Case Study in Structured Talent Development
Publications

MillerKnoll: Developing Operations Leaders from Within and Beyond — A Case Study in Structured Talent Development

Bridge, Propel, and Career Academy are built on a practical philosophy: that MillerKnoll has great talent already inside the organization. Finding that talent, developing it, and aligning it to the right opportunities is key to its success. T

A Typology of State-Supported Work-Connected Learning Programs
Publications

A Typology of State-Supported Work-Connected Learning Programs

States invest in work-connected learning through dozens of distinct funding streams, grant programs, and agency initiatives, often developed independently over time by different administrations and agencies pursuing different goals.

Resource Roundup: Data Centers and the Workforce
Blog Posts