The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program — Events and Interviews – Details, episodes & analysis

Democracy may be top of mind for many Americans this election season, but it’s easy to forget that the ideal of democracy has always been about more than filling out one ballot every couple of years. Democratic and participatory principles and practices can strengthen our public spaces, community organizations, social media platforms, and even our workplaces.  

Workers are closest to many of the problems and potential solutions most critical to an enterprise’s performance, holding essential knowledge about safety, productivity, and culture. Employers who fail to sufficiently listen or value their workers’ voices miss opportunities to innovate and improve productivity — and may suffer from workers’ decreased job satisfaction, productivity, and retention. We know workers want a seat at the table on issues from pay and benefits to safety, culture, and accountability, not only because they say so in surveys, but, increasingly, because they’re organizing to win it. Companies that genuinely seek to leverage workers’ insights often deploy tactics like surveys and town hall meetings that fall short of capturing representative input or turning feedback into action. But democratic mechanisms like shared ownership, board level co-determination, and labor-management partnerships can unlock benefits by enabling a truly collaborative, participatory work environment.

In this virtual event — hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program on November 20, 2024 —  experts and practitioners share insights on how different democratic structures and strategies can create better workplaces and businesses. Panelists also share their own experiences and extrapolate learnings that may apply to others looking to build more vibrant, participatory work environments. Our speakers include:

• Julian McKinley, Co-Executive Director, Democracy at Work Institute

• Lenore Palladino, Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst

• Larry Williams Jr., Founder and President, UnionBase

• Liba Wenig Rubenstein (moderator), Director, Aspen Business Roundtable on Organized Labor

For more information about this event, including a transcript, speaker bios, and additional resources, visit: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/events/workplace-democracy-sharing-power-and-decision-making-at-work/

For highlights from this discussion, subscribe to EOP’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AspenEOP

Or subscribe to the “Opportunity in America” podcast to listen on the go: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/aspeneop

Announcements of a big employer moving to town, or a large infrastructure project, can often spark excitement. Local communities see the potential for big benefits, including new and better jobs and other investment in community needs. Too often, however, these benefits do not materialize. Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs), binding agreements created between community groups and organizations like real estate developers or large employers, are a powerful alternative that ensure people have a real say in shaping the outcomes these new investments will create for their communities.

Jobs to Move America (JMA) is a national leader in leveraging CBAs to improve jobs and provide opportunities for historically disadvantaged communities and workers. CBAs have allowed JMA to build consensus between affected workers and employers on policies that would benefit the community — from reformed hiring practices to improved training and protecting workers from discrimination. 

In this webinar — which took place on October 23, 2024 — we hear from experts and practitioners about their experiences implementing CBAs and leveraging them to improve job quality in their communities. Our speakers include:

• Jay Mehta, Manager (opening remarks), Community Benefits Agreement Resource Center, Jobs to Move America

• Erica Iheme, Co-Executive Director, Jobs to Move America

• Amanda Woodrum, Co-Director, ReImagine Appalachia

• Grace Adcox, Senior Climate Strategist, Data for Progress

• Matt Helmer (moderator), Managing Director, Economic Opportunities Program, The Aspen Institute

This event was co-hosted by JMA and the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program (EOP). It is part of EOP’s Job Quality in Practice webinar series, which examines the strategies and approaches practitioners are using to improve job quality and expand economic opportunity. 

For more information about this event, including a transcript, speaker bios, and additional resources, visit: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/events/community-benefits-agreements-a-tool-for-creating-good-jobs/

For highlights from this discussion, subscribe to EOP’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AspenEOP

Or subscribe to the “Opportunity in America” podcast to listen on the go: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/aspeneop

Join us November 20 on Zoom for our next webinar, “Workplace Democracy: Sharing Power and Decision Making at Work.” Click here to RSVP: https://aspeninstitute.zoom.us/webinar/register/5817297828083/WN_XAV8eUIoS6W6OSjNrSojbQ

In this video, we hear from five leaders representing a variety of sectors about their “big idea” for advancing employee ownership. Speakers include:

• Christine Curella, Economic Development Consultant; Former Senior Policy Adviser to Deputy Mayor of New York City
• Evan Edwards, Chief Executive Officer, Project Equity
• Chris Griswold, Policy Director, American Compass
• Wilma Liebman, Former Chair, National Labor Relations Board; Senior Fellow, Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing
• Jason Wiener, Member, Colorado Employee Ownership Commission; Executive Fellow, Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing

This video comes from the second Employee Ownership Ideas Forum, hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program and the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing. Our 2024 Forum, “Employee Ownership on the Ground,” brought innovative employee share ownership initiatives and speakers from around the country to Washington DC to highlight how this bipartisan approach to improving jobs, wealth creation, and business performance is helping create more equitable economies in states, cities, and rural communities.

For clips and highlights from the Forum, subscribe to the Economic Opportunities Program on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@aspeneop/

And tune in to our podcast to listen to full discussions on the go: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/aspeneop

For more from the Forum — including videos, photos, audio, transcripts, and additional resources — visit: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/events/employee-ownership-ideas-forum-2024/

This clip features Maureen Conway (Vice President for Policy Programs, The Aspen Institute; Executive Director, Economic Opportunities Program), Dan Porterfield (President and CEO, The Aspen Institute), Eva Sage-Gavin (Senior Managing Director, Talent & Organization Consulting, Accenture), and Ellie Bertani (Senior Director and Portfolio Owner of Digital Transformation and Reskilling, Walmart US).

The fifth anniversary of UpSkill America is here! At this special event, we look both back at what we have learned about upskilling the last five years and forward to what the upskilling movement needs to achieve in the years ahead.

Since our founding, momentum for upskilling has continued to grow, with businesses large and small across the country creating new programs and developing innovative approaches to make it easier for employees to access training and education that can help advance their careers. These new strategies for upskilling represent a sea change in businesses’ approach to education, as they see the value of advancing the skills of employees at all levels in supporting opportunity and helping their bottom lines.

To celebrate this anniversary, we bring together leaders in business, researchers, policymakers, and upskilling program graduates to share what we’ve learned over the past five years, highlight innovative approaches to upskilling, discuss solutions to common challenges, and explore the future of the upskilling movement.

We’re thankful to Accenture, Lumina Foundation, Pearson, Strada Education Network, Study.com, and Walmart for their support of our work and this event. For others looking to support the work of UpSkill America, please contact Jaime Fall: jaime.fall@aspeninst.org.

Lack of access to quality jobs is a key contributor to rising inequality. Race, gender, and place all play a critical role in who has access to quality work and economic mobility. How can leaders across fields take concrete steps to assess and address disparities in job quality in a regional labor market and improve outcomes for all workers?

This is a discussion of how to measure job quality – with a focus on race, gender, and place – and monitor trends. Why prioritize and measure job quality in your work? What data sources, tools, and approaches can you put to work immediately to assess job quality in your local labor market? How can you disaggregate data by race, gender, and place, and analyze disparities in job quality in a region?

This webinar is the first in our Job Quality in Practice webinar series. The panel includes Jeremie Greer (Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director, Liberation in a Generation), Chandra Childers (Study Director, Institute for Women’s Policy Research), and Amy Blair (Research Director, Workforce Strategies Initiative, The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program).

The Job Quality in Practice series is designed to support practitioners across fields – including workforce development, economic development, capital deployment, policy, worker advocacy, and business – to address job quality in their work. Webinars share actionable tools and approaches, highlight leading practitioners’ work, and create connections across disciplines. We are grateful to Prudential Financial for its support of our Job Quality in Practice webinar series and our ongoing efforts to advance a job quality field of practice.

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. For more information, visit our website at as.pn/eop. Learn about new events and activities by joining our mailing list (as.pn/eopmail) and following us on social media (as.pn/eopsocial).

While our economy continues to grow, our country’s prosperity is not broadly shared. Although unemployment is low, too many working people still struggle to make ends meet or build enough wealth to provide for a stable life for themselves and their families. How do we create a new economic system that builds prosperity for all, helping to ensure that everyone shares in the wealth that our economy generates?

A new book, The Making of a Democratic Economy by Marjorie Kelly and Ted Howard of The Democracy Collaborative, explores this question by looking at organizations and individuals across the country working to reshape our economy to make it more equitable and to restore power to individuals. From worker cooperatives to socially conscious investing, these leaders are creating different approaches to capitalism that can serve as models for others. The book outlines a set of principles for this new economy that can help guide efforts to address the challenges that many people still face.

We host a discussion with the book’s authors and some of the leaders they describe, whose policies, programs, and business models highlight opportunities to make our economy more equitable. The event explores these new approaches to capitalism and identified practical lessons for others looking to build a more just economic system.

This event features Karla Bruce (Chief Equity Officer, Fairfax County Government), Marjorie Kelly (Executive Vice President & Senior Fellow, The Democracy Collaborative), Harold B. Pettigrew, Jr. (Executive Director, Wacif), and moderator Joyce Klein (Director, Business Ownership Initiative, The Aspen Institute).

This event is part of the Opportunity in America series, an ongoing discussion series hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program. We are grateful to the Ford Foundation, Prudential Financial, and Walmart.org for their support of this series. For more information, visit as.pn/opportunityinamerica.

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. Learn more at as.pn/eop.

How are good jobs good business? How can business invest in the skills of their workforce and encourage advancement? What role can employee ownership play in improving worker economic inclusion and security? This clip features Mark Popovich (The Aspen Institute), Jennifer Briggs (GRITT Business Coaching), Kevin Johnson (Aon), Erin Patinkin (Ovenly), and Matthew Heimer (Fortune Magazine).

Is America living up to our aspirations to be a real “land of opportunity?” Even as the economy’s now decade-long 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?

This afternoon of discussion with distinguished and diverse panels explores the changing nature of opportunity, who is and isn’t included, and concrete ideas for expanding access to quality economic opportunities.

This event also launches our new conversation series, Opportunity in America, which 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.

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 broadens the lens to more intentionally include business ownership strategies as a key route to accessing economic opportunity in the US. We hope you will continue to join us as we seek to advance strategies, policies, and ideas to ensure all have a fair shot to pursue their American Dream.

How do we break down the divides of race, place and gender and create more equitable access to economic opportunity? How do we invest in under resourced communities? How can we support entrepreneurs of color? How do we include the voices of working people? This clip features Joyce Klein (The Aspen Institute), Gayatri Agnew (Walmart.org), Betsy Biemann (Coastal Enterprises Inc.), Gary Cunningham (Prosperity Now), and Tracy Jan (The Washington Post).

Is America living up to our aspirations to be a real “land of opportunity?” Even as the economy’s now decade-long 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?

This afternoon of discussion with distinguished and diverse panels explores the changing nature of opportunity, who is and isn’t included, and concrete ideas for expanding access to quality economic opportunities.

This event also launches our new conversation series, Opportunity in America, which 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.

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 broadens the lens to more intentionally include business ownership strategies as a key route to accessing economic opportunity in the US. We hope you will continue to join us as we seek to advance strategies, policies, and ideas to ensure all have a fair shot to pursue their American Dream.

What does the national picture look like, how do we measure opportunity, what are the policy ideas, how do they play out in communities? This clip features Maureen Conway (The Aspen Institute), Dan Porterfield (The Aspen Institute), Aparna Mathur (American Enterprise Institute), Paul Osterman (MIT Sloan School of Management), and Michelle De La Isla (Mayor, City of Topeka).

Is America living up to our aspirations to be a real “land of opportunity?” Even as the economy’s now decade-long 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?

This afternoon of discussion with distinguished and diverse panels explores the changing nature of opportunity, who is and isn’t included, and concrete ideas for expanding access to quality economic opportunities.

This event also launches our new conversation series, Opportunity in America, which 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.

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 broadens the lens to more intentionally include business ownership strategies as a key route to accessing economic opportunity in the US. We hope you will continue to join us as we seek to advance strategies, policies, and ideas to ensure all have a fair shot to pursue their American Dream.

The institution of work is in a crisis in the US. Americans continue to believe in the value of hard work, but for far too many, hard work is insufficient to pay the bills. The 2016 election heightened attention to the white working class, the #MeToo movement pulled back the curtain on abuses many women experience at work, the role of immigrant workers has become a divisive flashpoint, and fears of an automation-induced jobs apocalypse abound. These current challenges have historical precedents.

In an engaging new book, Beaten Down, Worked Up – The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor, veteran New York Times reporter Steven Greenhouse relates how working people organized to address similar challenges in the past, how the gains they achieved began to erode, and how working people today are again finding their voice. Like their predecessors, workers are uniting in common purpose to respond to today’s challenges and demand a better world of work for themselves and for future generations.

Enjoy this conversation with one of the nation’s leading labor reporters discussing the past, present, and future of work in America and the role of working people in determining that future.

This event features Steven Greenhouse (former reporter, The New York Times) and moderator Maureen Conway (Vice President for Policy Programs, The Aspen Institute; Executive Director, Economic Opportunities Program).

This event is part of the Working in America series, an ongoing discussion series hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program that highlights an array of critical issues affecting low- and moderate-income workers in the United States and ideas for improving and expanding economic opportunities for working people. We are grateful to the Ford Foundation, Prudential Financial, and the Walmart Foundation for their support of this series. For more information, visit as.pn/workinginamerica.

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. Learn more at as.pn/eop.