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.

As opportunity youth – the 4.6 million young people ages 16-24 who are neither in school nor working – continue to struggle to connect to the economy, entrepreneurship programs may offer a chance to learn the skills and mindset needed to thrive in today’s economy. How do we create entrepreneurship programs tailored to the strengths and the circumstances of opportunity youth?

Through the Youth Entrepreneurship Fund (YEF), three communities across the country have launched programs to explore entrepreneurship as a pathway to economic self-determination and wealth-building in low-income communities. The programs take a collaborative approach that brings together entrepreneurship education with wraparound supports and additional services from partners that facilitate access to key elements of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in these communities – including mentorship, business pitch competitions and seed funding, accelerators and incubators, hands-on workplace experience, and internships. Learn more about the work of YEF by reading our paper, "Creating Entrepreneurship Pathways for Opportunity Youth: Early Experiences from the Youth Entrepreneurship Fund Grantees," co-written by AIFCS and BOI.

This event features two panels, one with leaders from the programs and a second with young adult entrepreneurs from these communities. The conversations will explore emerging learnings from the YEF implementation, including strategies for adapting entrepreneurship curriculum to the unique strengths and needs of opportunity youth; how projects were designed with an equity lens; and strategies for engaging youth voice in the design and implementation of the collaboratives.

Our guests include Joyce Klein (Director, Business Ownership Initiative, The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program), Yelena Nemoy (Senior Program Manager, Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions), Ruth Barajas-Cardona (Director of Workforce, Education and Reentry Services, Bay Area Community Resources), Michelle Carrillo (Initiative Director, Building Healthy Communities, Del Norte and Tribal Lands, Wild Rivers Community Foundation), Dornella Harvey (Project Manager, Year-Round, Philadelphia Youth Network), and Mali Linton (Young Adult Entrepreneur, Bay Area Community Resources).

The Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions promotes collaborative, community-based efforts that build the power and influence of those with the least access to opportunity, and support communities to come together to expand mobility, eliminate systemic barriers, and create their own solutions to their most pressing challenges. Learn more at aspencommunitysolutions.org.

The Business Ownership Initiative works to build understanding and strengthen the role of business ownership as an economic opportunity strategy. BOI is an initiative of the Economic Opportunities Program. Learn more at as.pn/boi.

The Economic Opportunities Program advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy. 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).

At a time of record low unemployment, the problem we now face is not that people don’t have work, but that they don’t have good work. As the economy booms, low wages, limited benefits, and insecure employment are still the reality for many working people. What will it take to make sure everyone in the United States has quality jobs?

The Aspen Institute and Urban Institute have been exploring this issue through different vantage points, to better understand the challenges that we face and the implications for policies and practices that improve job quality. And while the issue of quality jobs is one of national importance, solutions also need to respond to the needs of different places and communities across the country and be inclusive of all, regardless of race, gender, or other factors. Governments at all levels, businesses, civic, labor, and community organizations and more, all have roles to play in addressing the need for quality work.

What do we know and what do we need to know so that we can build a world of work in which hard work truly does lead to a dignified living? This conversation brings together different experiences and perspectives to explore this question. We feature a senior researcher from the Urban Institute together with Aspen Institute Job Quality Fellows from business, community development finance, and workforce and policy development who are working to create quality jobs in their communities.

This event features Sarah Keh (Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility, Prudential Financial), Amanda Blondeau (Business Services Director, Northern Initiatives), Demetra Nightingale (Institute Fellow, Urban Institute), Rick Plympton (CEO, Optimax Systems), Caryn York (Executive Director, Job Opportunities Task Force), and moderator E.J. Dionne (Columnist, The Washington Post).

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.

This year’s launch of Opportunity Zones could unleash a flood of investment into low-income communities across the country. But who will this opportunity benefit?

While the nation’s economy is booming, that economic growth has been geographically concentrated. Since 2008, more than 2.5 million new jobs were created in the most prosperous ZIP codes, while the least prosperous areas lost nearly 1.5 million jobs, according to research from the Economic Innovation Group. New jobs have flowed into cities, with rural areas across the country still yet to fully recover from the Great Recession. And within cities prosperity is not broadly shared; income inequality is higher in large cities than the country as a whole and wealth inequality has a large and persistent racial bias.

Opportunity Zone investments have the potential to address these economic divides by supporting small business growth and local ownership in communities that have thus far been left out of the recovery. But effort and expertise are needed to ensure that these investments create opportunities that reach people in the targeted communities, and that they extend to women, people of color, those who have been involved with the justice system, and others who have traditionally faced barriers to economic opportunity.

This event explores these issues and considers ideas to focus Opportunity Zone investments in ways that will create jobs and wealth for communities and support small business development and ownership in places that have for too long been left on the sidelines of the economy.

This event features Tai Cooper (Managing Director, Policy and Advocacy, New Jersey Economic Development Authority), Tomás Durán (President, Concerned Capital), Kenan Fikri (Director for Research, Economic Innovation Group), Maurice Jones (President and CEO, LISC), and moderator Joyce Klein (Director, FIELD at the Aspen Institute).

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. 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.

Equity compensation is a standard practice across the corporate world. But very often, it’s just the C-suite and upper level management who are allowed to participate and capture the gains. Frontline workers, particularly women and people of color, are often excluded from this wealth-building opportunity. This panel will highlight examples and practices that reverse this trend so that equity compensation is equitable and so that the frontline workers, who are key to driving profits, also see a return for their contributions. Speakers include:

Robert Patricelli, Senior Advisor, InTandem Capital Partners

Anna-Lisa Miller, Founding Executive Director, Ownership Works

Anthony Cimino, Vice President and Head of Policy, Carta

Barbara Baksa, Executive Director, National Association of Stock Plan Professionals

Adria Scharf, Associate Director, Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing (moderator)

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/

Gig work is not new, but the rise of high-profile tech platforms such as Lyft, TaskRabbit, Handy, Care.com, Airbnb, and of course Uber have put a spotlight on independent work and raised new questions about the organization of work. In what ways is independent work working for people? In what ways can it pose problems? How can we build systems in which gig work is good work?

Answers are complicated because gig workers come in all types: full-time drivers, college students delivering food after classes, parents picking up shifts around their kids’ schedules, teachers looking to earn supplemental income, and more. The personal and economic needs of gig workers can be as varied as the platforms they use.

As a society that encourages work, we need to also consider what the rewards for hard work should be. We know that working people need access to benefits such as health insurance and paid sick days, but who should provide them? What kind of flexibility do workers need and how well does that match with business needs for flexible access to workers? Can gig jobs support both thriving businesses and thriving workers and families?

This event explores the issues and opportunities facing gig workers and offers ideas for building supports to make gig work good work.

This event features Lindsey Cameron (PhD Candidate, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan), Joshua Karam (Co-Founder and CEO, Hyr), Libby Reder (Senior Fellow, Future of Work Initiative, The Aspen Institute), and moderator Eric Morath (Reporter, Labor Economics and Policy, The Wall Street Journal).

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. 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.

For most of us, the holiday season brings to mind favorite food traditions, from stuffed turkeys to applesauce-laden latkes. Shoppers may make sure that their poultry is free range or their apples organic, but when we head to the supermarket to pick out groceries for holiday meals, how often do we consider the frontline retail workers who shape our shopping experience?

Food retailers play an important role in communities, serving as major employers and anchor institutions. But local chains are facing challenges from market consolidation, new competitors, and new technologies that threaten to alter business operations and replace workers. Some stores are finding ways to differentiate and improve business performance by investing in workers – which helps them create exceptional customer service and cater to local communities. Research by the National Grocers Association, the trade association for independent supermarkets,   indicates that more than 80 percent of consumers still prefer their local store to an online alternative, and they value local, quality items and friendly staff.

This event explores how grocers can succeed – and can advance economic and racial equity – by investing in workers. Bringing together food access advocates, food retail leaders, and workforce development experts, we discuss what consumers, business owners, and policymakers can do to encourage good working conditions for the people behind our groceries.

This event features Congressman Dwight Evans (US Representative for Pennsylvania’s Second District), Claire Babineaux-Fontenot (CEO, Feeding America), Scott Emerick (Executive Director, YouthBuild Philadelphia Charter School), Yael Lehmann (President & CEO, The Food Trust), Sailu Timbo (Director of Diversity, Hy-vee), and moderator Eric Kessler (Founder, Principal, and Senior Managing Director, Arabella Advisors).

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. 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.

Is our economy strong if the stock market soars and corporate profits hit new highs, while working people’s earnings stay flat and their jobs are unstable? A critical issue in this discussion is that we lack good measures of economic progress that include the share of good companies offering good jobs — jobs with good wages, benefits, stability, and opportunities for advancement. And it’s important not only for workers but also for businesses; employees who have good jobs are more engaged, more productive and more likely to stay.

Running a company with job quality in mind is good business, and a metric for quality jobs could improve decisions about where to invest, whom to lend to, and which companies to do business with. However, until now, there was no easy and consistent way to measure a businesses’ “people outcomes” and benchmark to industry peers.

The Economic Opportunities Program’s Good Companies/Good Jobs Initiative, in partnership with Working Metrics, is proud to unveil a new tool that assesses businesses’ job quality performance for frontline workers and benchmarks them against others. This tool is part of a unique nonprofit-for profit collaboration with Working Metrics to get this tool into the hands of investors and businesses’ procurement systems to help them include firms’ treatment of workers in their decision making – thereby creating strong incentives for business change. This event includes a presentation on this innovative new tool and discussion with businesses who contributed to it and used it to improve their practices.

This event features Maureen Conway (Vice President for Policy Programs, The Aspen Institute; Executive Director, Economic Opportunities Program), Pat Gross (Chairman, The Lovell Group; Trustee, The Aspen Institute), Arlene Koth (Vice President of Administration and Human Resources, TriVersity Construction), Ken Macon (Director of Strategic Sourcing, TriHealth), Mark Popovich (Director, Good Companies/Good Jobs, Economic Opportunities Program, The Aspen Institute), Larry Schlang (CEO, Working Metrics), and Janice Urbanik (Senior Director for Innovation and Strategy, National Fund for Workforce Solutions).

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. 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.

This Supreme Court term saw several high-profile cases in which the court adjudicated labor issues. The Janus decision, with its implications for public sector unions, and the Epic Systems decision, regarding the use of private arbitration, drew the media’s attention this year. Somewhat less widely covered were important decisions of lower courts, which have been adjudicating issues such as the validity of non-compete agreements, whether non-poach agreements among franchisees are legal, and what defines when a worker must be considered an employee. While these and other employment-related court rulings can seem technical or dry, the impact of these rulings will be felt by virtually everyone with a job: the over 150 million wage and salary workers in the United States.

Throughout history, courts have played a key role in interpreting and enforcing the rules that govern work, balancing the rights and interests of workers and those of the companies they work for. How courts strike that balance has changed over the years and has influenced the continuing evolution of the relationship between workers and employers.

In this event, we hear from legal and economic scholars and worker advocates about the critical role that courts have in setting the rules for the employer-employee relationship and the impact these decisions can have on individuals and the economy.

This event features Oren Cass (Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute), Sarita Gupta (Co-Director, Jobs with Justice), Christine Owens (Executive Director, National Employment Law Project), Evan Starr (Assistant Professor of Management & Organization, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland), and moderator Lauren Weber (Workplace Reporter, Wall Street Journal).

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. 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.

The decline of the American middle class and the frayed social contract has become an increasingly urgent topic, as our nation’s economic and social divisions fuel widespread discontent. With incomes stagnating and jobs that pay a living wage in sharp decline, anger and resentment are palpable. For America’s working families, the experience of work and wealth is intertwined in the daily challenges of survival: keeping a roof over one’s head, getting food on the table, paying the bills, and saving for the future. This panel discussion grapples with one of the biggest challenges facing our nation: how to restore widespread economic prosperity to families and communities all across America.

This event features Alex Mazer (Founding Partner, Common Wealth), Alison Omens (Managing Director, JUST Capital), Andrea Levere (President, Prosperity Now), Sarah Keh (Vice President of Corporate Giving, Prudential Financial, Inc.), Todd Greene (Executive Director, Atlanta University Center Consortium, Inc.), Maureen Conway (Executive Director, The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program), Ida Rademacher (Executive Director, The Aspen Institute Financial Security Program), and Rhett Buttle (Senior Fellow, The Aspen Institute).

This event is part of Reconnecting Work and Wealth, a joint set of work led by the Economic Opportunities Program and the Financial Security Program. Income and assets are both essential building blocks of household economic security and opportunity, and are intertwined in the economic lives of households. Together EOP and FSP are exploring how critical changes in recent decades are reshaping both labor and financial markets and leaving working families more vulnerable. Through publications, public convenings, and intensive dialogues with leaders in industry, academia, philanthropy, government, and nonprofit organizations, the Aspen Institute is advancing the conversation on how to ensure that hard work can lead to economic stability and mobility in today’s economy. Learn more at as.pn/workandwealth.

The Economic Opportunities Program advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy. 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).

In recent decades, workers’ paychecks have remained stagnant, despite increases in productivity. At the same time, returns to wealth have increased. Strategies that transform workers into owners, such as employee share ownership strategies, have the potential to give working people a stake in our growing economy and include them in the nation’s prosperity. With employee share ownership strategies, employees may hold a majority of shares as participants in an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), be members of a worker cooperative, or have a meaningful stake in a public company or start-up. Business leaders often emphasize the value of employee engagement, and many have found that these strategies contribute to higher levels of worker engagement, relative to that of peer companies. Can employee share ownership strategies help workers to share in the success of their companies, while promoting business success?

At this event, we hear about companies that have used employee share ownership models successfully, as well as policymakers who are exploring strategies to support and advance employee share ownership opportunities. This event was jointly hosted by the Economic Opportunities Program and the Financial Security Program.

This event features Congressman Erik Paulsen (US Representative for Minnesota’s Third Congressional District), Joseph Blasi (Senior Fellow, Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program; Director, Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers University; J. Robert Beyster Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University’s School of Management and Labor Relations), Amy Hall (Vice President, Social Consciousness, EILEEN FISHER), Markita Madden-Puckett (Customer Service Representative, ComSonics, Inc.), Stephen R. Smith (President & CEO, AMSTED Industries), Steven Voigt (Retired President & CEO, King Arthur Flour), and moderator Heather Long (Economics Correspondent, The Washington Post).

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. 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.

In the coming decades, the success of the US economy will become increasingly tied to the success of Latino Americans. With 58 million Latinos in the US today and projections of population growth in the years to come, Latino workers, consumers, and business owners will shape the present and future of the US economy. How can we secure economic stability and mobility for Latino workers, families, and communities? What policies, practices, or strategies could help to improve job quality, increase skills and access to high-quality jobs, and expand business ownership opportunities? The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program (EOP) and the Latinos and Society Program (AILAS) invite you to watch “Drivers of Opportunity: How Will Latinos Shape the Future of the American Dream?”

This event was presented as part of EOP’s Working in America event series and AILAS’s Latino Economic Advancement series. The Economic Opportunities Program is grateful to the Ford Foundation, the Prudential Foundation, and the Walmart Foundation for their support of this work. The Aspen Institute Latinos and Society Program would like to thank the Ricardo Salinas Foundation, Target, the Woody and Gayle Hunt Family Foundation, Comcast/NBCUniversal Telemundo, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Edison International, and Weingart Foundation for making this event and the work of the Latinos and Society Program possible.

This event features Jose Corona (Director of Equity and Strategic Partnerships, Office of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf), Marie Mora (Professor of Economics and Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Diversity, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley), Maria Rios (President and CEO, Nation Waste, Inc.), Carmen Rojas (CEO, The Workers Lab), and moderator Kimberly Adams (Senior Reporter, Marketplace).

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. 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.

Rarely do we pause to consider the origins of the produce that occupies our refrigerators, pantries, and plates. Out of sight and out of mind for most of us, at least 1 million farmworkers (estimates vary) in the US harvest tomatoes, strawberries, melons, oranges, and more. These workers endure strenuous working conditions, low pay, long hours, and all-too-frequent abuse, mistreatment, and exposure to chemical and other hazards.

In Florida’s tomato fields, a group of farmworkers came together to improve their working conditions. They formed the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and won industry agreements to the Fair Food Program, a partnership of farmers, farmworkers, and retail food companies that ensure humane wages and working conditions at participating farms. In her new book, I Am Not a Tractor! How Florida Farmworkers Took on the Fast Food Giants and Won, Susan Marquis tells the story of the Coalition and draws implications for other industries. This event featured a discussion of the book, the Fair Food Program, and the potential for worker-driven social responsibility strategies to improve job quality throughout the nation and world.

This event features Susan L. Marquis (Dean, Pardee RAND Graduate School, and Vice President, Innovation, RAND Corporation), Greg Asbed (Coalition of Immokalee Workers), Jon Esformes (CEO, Sunripe Certified Brands), Gerardo Reyes Chavez (Coalition of Immokalee Workers), and moderator Steven Greenhouse (Former reporter, The New York Times)

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. 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.

Headlines warn that changes in retail will lead to disruptive job loss for frontline workers such as cashiers, salespersons, stock clerks, and order fillers. But there may be more to the story. New technologies, the rise of ecommerce, and shifting business strategies, marketing approaches, and customer expectations are altering the way businesses sell, customers shop, and employees work. How will these changes influence retail businesses’ employment practices and the shape of retail jobs? Will the response to these changes vary across segments of the retail industry, whether companies are publicly traded or privately held, small or large, brick-and-mortar or online, or local or multinational? What are the opportunities to create new jobs with potentially more productive, meaningful, and rewarding work?

This event features Ellie Bertani (Senior Director of Associate Innovation, US People Team, Walmart), Tsedeye Gebreselassie (Senior Staff Attorney, National Employment Law Project), Gina Schaefer (Co-Founder & CEO, A Few Cool Hardware Stores), Sebastian Vanderzeil (Director & Global Thematic Research Analyst, Cornerstone Capital Group), and moderator Greg Ip (Chief Economics Commentator, The Wall Street Journal).

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. 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.

We like to think that the US labor market is a meritocracy — that people who work hard will attain good jobs, climb the career ladder, or start and grow businesses. The experience of Black Americans, however, raises questions about whether the reality lines up with the ideal. The unemployment rate among Black Americans is roughly double that of White Americans, and Black college graduates are roughly twice as likely to be unemployed as White college graduates. Over the past three decades, Black workers have attained higher levels of education and experience, but have not seen a commensurate increases in earnings, benefits, and economic standing. How do we understand the experience of Black workers in the US, and what does it tell us about working in America today?

This event features Ryan P. Haygood, Esq. (President & CEO, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice), Debra Plousha Moore (System Chief of Staff & Executive Vice President, Carolinas HealthCare System), Don Tomaskovic-Devey (Professor of Sociology, University of Massachusetts), Tanya Wallace-Gobern (Executive Director, National Black Worker Center Project), and moderator Dorian T. Warren (President, Center for Community Change Action; Vice-President, Center for Community Change).

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. 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.

Financing employee ownership conversions has been a long-standing challenge to growth. But new funds and investors from across the financial sector are coming on board. And many more opportunities appear on the horizon as institutional investors are beginning to explore how to get involved. This panel of finance experts will highlight some emerging finance models and the opportunities and challenges of financing the growth of employee ownership in the decade to come. Speakers include:

• Amy Brakeman, Co-Founder, Unlock Ownership Fund
• Phil Reeves, Founding Partner, Apis & Heritage Capital Partners
• Zoe Schlag, Cofounder and Managing Partner, Common Trust; Executive Fellow, Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing
• Jim Sorenson, Founder, Sorenson Impact Group
• Melissa Hoover, Special Projects Director, Democracy at Work Institute; Senior Fellow, Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing (moderator)

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/

In post-WWII America, workers had a different relationship with their employers than workers do today. Many workers stayed with one company for the long haul, earning solid wages, good benefits, and pensions in exchange for loyalty and hard work. That social contract spurred the creation of the largest, strongest middle class in history. But much has changed in recent decades.

In his richly detailed and eye-opening book, Rick Wartzman chronicles the erosion of the relationship between American companies and their workers. Wartzman tells the stories of four major employers — General Motors, General Electric, Kodak, and Coca-Cola. By tracing the ups and downs of these four corporate icons over seventy years, Wartzman illustrates just how much has been lost: job security and steadily rising pay, guaranteed pensions, robust health benefits, and much more. Charting the Golden Age of the ’50s and ’60s; the turbulent years of the ’70s and ’80s; and the growth of downsizing, outsourcing, and instability in the modern era, Wartzman’s narrative is a biography of the American Dream gone sideways.

The Economic Opportunities Program and the Financial Security Program host Rick Wartzman to discuss his new book, The End of Loyalty: The Rise and Fall of Good Jobs in America, in a discussion with Neil Irwin, senior economics correspondent for The New York Times.

This event is part of Reconnecting Work and Wealth, a joint set of work led by the Economic Opportunities Program and the Financial Security Program. Income and assets are both essential building blocks of household economic security and opportunity, and are intertwined in the economic lives of households. Together EOP and FSP are exploring how critical changes in recent decades are reshaping both labor and financial markets and leaving working families more vulnerable. Through publications, public convenings, and intensive dialogues with leaders in industry, academia, philanthropy, government, and nonprofit organizations, the Aspen Institute is advancing the conversation on how to ensure that hard work can lead to economic stability and mobility in today’s economy. Learn more at as.pn/workandwealth.

The Economic Opportunities Program advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy. 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).

As a new American, Richard Reeves found the American ideal of equality and meritocracy refreshing, relative to the class-bound English traditions he grew up with—but he’s found the reality lacking. In his new book, Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do About It, Reeves highlights the widening gap between the upper middle class and the rest of American society. Reeves makes the compelling case that advantages are concentrated – not just among the top 1 percent that we commonly hear about, but also among the top 20 percent of earners, including journalists, academics, policy analysts and professionals, people like him—and perhaps like you? He argues that members of America’s upper middle class are becoming more effective at passing on opportunities to their children, and while he applauds good parenting, he notes systemic advantages—in areas ranging from the tax code to institutional practices of higher education institutions—limit the abilities of parents lower down the income scale to help their children connect to the best opportunities, resulting in less social mobility overall.

How can we make our society more aligned with our ideals of openness and healthy competition? What can be done to create more equitable opportunities so that low- and moderate-income workers can attain stability and mobility? Enjoy this conversation about the issues of wealth, class, and opportunity in America, as we discuss a new book and new ideas with Richard Reeves.

This event features Richard Reeves (Senior Fellow, Economic Studies; Co-Director, Center on Children and Families, Brookings Institution) 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. 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.

Tax policy can dramatically shape the availability of economic opportunities for low- and moderate-income workers. Taxes generate revenue for public goods and services, such as healthcare, infrastructure, and education, which significantly affect low- and moderate-income workers’ ability to connect to and thrive in today’s economy. Certain tax credits – such as the EITC and the Child Tax Credit – are targeted to low- and moderate-income working families to supplement incomes and encourage work. Additionally, taxes influence the behaviors of corporations, including their decisions of where to locate, how many and what kind of jobs to create, and what benefits and compensation to offer workers. As Congress and the White House consider reforms to US tax policy, we invite you to explore how the most-discussed reforms would affect low- and moderate-income workers if implemented. In this lunchtime conversation held at the Aspen Institute, a diverse panel of experts considered the many ways that tax policy shapes economic opportunities, reflect on the ideas and proposals put forth to date, and highlight areas where tax reform could benefit working people, corporations, and the United States economy more broadly.

This event features Alex Brill (Research Fellow, American Enterprise Institute), Frank Clemente (Executive Director, Americans for Tax Fairness), Mireya Eavey (Sarasota Area President, United Way Suncoast), and moderator Jeanne Sahadi (Senior Writer, CNNMoney).

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. 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.

This event is a discussion on financial wellbeing in the workplace and how it can improve the bottom line for both employers and employees. This event features two panels. The first panel of national experts examines the current levels and drivers of financial stress among working Americans, and the ways that financial insecurity impacts business success. The second panel features business leaders and social innovators who are developing a new generation of employer-based solutions that can reduce financial stress and improve the financial bottom-lines of both workers and companies.

The first panel features Marie Downey (BEST Hospitality Training), Clint Key (The Pew Charitable Trusts), Rob Levy (CFSI), Diane Winland (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP), and moderator Ida Rademacher (The Aspen Institute Financial Security Program). The second panel features Amanda Hahnel (Commonwealth), Camilla Nestor (Neighborhood Trust), Jamil Poonja (Stride Health), Andrew Sullivan (Prudential Group Insurance), and moderator Dayana Yochim (NerdWallet.com). The Aspen Institute thanks Prudential for making this event possible.

This event is part of Reconnecting Work and Wealth, a joint set of work led by the Economic Opportunities Program and the Financial Security Program. Income and assets are both essential building blocks of household economic security and opportunity, and are intertwined in the economic lives of households. Together EOP and FSP are exploring how critical changes in recent decades are reshaping both labor and financial markets and leaving working families more vulnerable. Through publications, public convenings, and intensive dialogues with leaders in industry, academia, philanthropy, government, and nonprofit organizations, the Aspen Institute is advancing the conversation on how to ensure that hard work can lead to economic stability and mobility in today’s economy. Learn more at as.pn/workandwealth.

The Economic Opportunities Program advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy. 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).

Investments to renew our nation’s infrastructure offer many possible benefits to our economy and our society. One of the most often cited benefits is that these investments will create good jobs. Indeed many policymakers see infrastructure investments as among the most promising of policy options to respond to clear concern about jobs expressed by their constituents. Rebuilding America’s crumbling roads, rails, bridges, buildings, power plants, storm water and sewer systems, and more will require a lot of skilled work. And investments in transportation and other infrastructure help many more working people be able to reliably get to work.

In communities across the country, much has been learned about how to invest in infrastructure projects in ways that support economic development goals and help people in the community connect to good jobs. In this panel, speakers discuss the opportunities for work created by infrastructure projects as well as the benefits that renewed infrastructure offer for both workers and business. Panelists share examples from companies and projects around the country, highlighting the business case for investing in workers, training, and safety, not only to benefit workers, but also to improve company operations and America’s critical physical assets.

This event features Denise Fairchild (President & CEO, Emerald Cities Collaborative), Charles “Rick” Moore (Vice President, Director Community Relations, Swinerton Incorporated), Dana Redd (Mayor, Camden, New Jersey), Adie Tomer (Fellow, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings Institution), and moderator Lori Aratani (Reporter, The Washington Post). Learn more about this event at as.pn/infrastructure.

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. 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.

The central tenet of the American dream is that if you work hard, you will be able to support yourself and your family, save for retirement, and invest in your children’s future. But in today’s economy, hard work does not guarantee economic stability. Working people are faced with lower and less stable earnings, anemic benefits, and a frayed social safety net, making it difficult for them to save and guard against economic risks. Working people and their families are struggling to find steady ground, let alone ladders to climb. On the eve of the Aspen Summit on Inequality and Opportunity, the Economic Opportunities Program and the Financial Security Program host a discussion on work, wealth, and the dissolving link between the two.

This event features Elliot Gerson (Executive Vice President of Policy and Public Programs and International Partners, The Aspen Institute), Lata Reddy (Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility, Prudential Financial; President, The Prudential Foundation), Juan Salgado (President and CEO, Instituto del Progreso Latino), Jared Bernstein (Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities), Justine Zinkin (Chief Executive Officer, Neighborhood Trust), Tom Shapiro (Pokross Professor of Law and Social Policy, Brandeis University; Director, Institute on Assets and Social Policy), and moderator Melanie Trottman (Freelance Reporter).

This event is part of Reconnecting Work and Wealth, a joint set of work led by the Economic Opportunities Program and the Financial Security Program. Income and assets are both essential building blocks of household economic security and opportunity, and are intertwined in the economic lives of households. Together EOP and FSP are exploring how critical changes in recent decades are reshaping both labor and financial markets and leaving working families more vulnerable. Through publications, public convenings, and intensive dialogues with leaders in industry, academia, philanthropy, government, and nonprofit organizations, the Aspen Institute is advancing the conversation on how to ensure that hard work can lead to economic stability and mobility in today’s economy. Learn more at as.pn/workandwealth.

The Economic Opportunities Program advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy. 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).

The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program is thrilled to announce a new initiative and a new team member! The Good Companies/Good Jobs Initiative at the Aspen Institute looks to sectors that have the potential to house good companies and good jobs, including health care and manufacturing, as well as retail, hospitality, and other service industries. It also explores tools to better align capital deployment to firms with good jobs outcomes. Mark Popovich, former vice president for The Hitachi Foundation’s Good Companies@Work program, has joined EOP to direct this initiative.

Funding for Good Companies/Good Jobs comes to EOP as one of three final gifts in The Hitachi Foundation’s legacy. This event features examples of companies that intentionally provide jobs that are good for workers and good for companies. We also shared more information about the interrelated goals of all three of The Hitachi Foundation legacy gifts, including to the MIT Sloan School of Management and Investors’ Circle.

This event features Maureen Conway (Vice President for Policy Programs, The Aspen Institute; Executive Director, Economic Opportunities Program), Barbara Dyer (Executive Director, Good Companies, Good Jobs Initiative at MIT; Former President & CEO, The Hitachi Foundation), Steven Kase (Managing Director, ASK Power), Evelia Cruz (Automation Team Leader, ASK Power), Dr. Robert S. Eden (Physician, Anne Arundel Health System), and Mary Leone (Certified Medical Assistant, Anne Arundel Health System).

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. 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.

High unemployment rates among teens and young adults have caught the attention of the popular press, policymakers, and many others. Labor market participation – working or actively seeking work – has fallen for these groups at alarming rates since 2000, especially for teens. While the declines have affected all young worker demographic groups, unemployment is even more acute for young people of color who have lower levels of labor market attachment overall. Research shows that unemployment and underemployment for young adults will have lasting consequences in the form of repressed wages, decreased upward mobility, and lessened productivity over their work lives. Society at large loses, too, in terms of lost tax revenues and productivity and increased public benefits.

What is causing these trends? Is the economy experiencing structural or cyclical changes that would explain it? Is it sluggish job growth or technology? Have employers just altered their preferences? This panel explores trends in young adult workforce participation and potential factors driving them. Panelists take a close look at the role employers and stronger connections to employers can play in helping teens and young adults access career-launching work experience. Panelists also discuss policies that may be contributing to the problem as well as those that may help to improve young worker access to early work experience and economic prosperity.

This event features Lashon Amado (National Coordinator of Opportunity Youth United Community Action Teams), Amy Barad (Director of Strategic Initiatives, Cowen Institute, Tulane University), Kisha Bird (Director of Youth Policy, CLASP), Paul Harrington, Ph.D. (Director, Center for Labor Markets and Policy, Drexel University), Tammy Simmons (Vice President of Marketing & Culture, Machine Specialties Inc.), and moderator Melanie Trottman (Labor and Economics Reporter, The Wall Street Journal).

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. 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.

A good job has long been the foundation for both financial stability and economic mobility. However, labor markets are changing. Of the 30 occupations expected to have the largest growth in the next decade, 23 will require a high school diploma or less. In addition to lower wages, these jobs, in industries such as home healthcare, retail sales, food preparation and service, often have irregular hours, limited benefits and limited opportunities for advancement.

These jobs are found all across the country, which is why we took the Working in America series on the road to the Midwest. We partnered with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City to host a luncheon forum to explore strategies for improving the quality of lower wage workers’ jobs in addition to creating opportunities for career advancement. Panelists discuss the importance and advantages, to both workers and employers, of shifting our employment and workforce strategies to focus on “building ladders and raising the floor.” This discussion explores a diversity of perspectives from across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

This event features Lisa Falcone (Director, Working Bridges Project, United Way of Northwest Vermont), Adrienne Smith (Chief Executive Officer, New Mexico Direct Caregivers Coalition), Walter Smith (Vice President, Human Resources, QuikTrip), and moderator Jon Willis (Vice President and Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City)

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. 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.

The 2016 election was a stunning departure from recent presidential elections, with deep divisions in both parties and widespread skepticism that those in power have any interest or ability to make meaningful reforms. Are the anger, resentment, racial animus, and pessimism that have become so pervasive reflective of economic insecurity, or are there other forces at work as well? Do the dramatic changes in the U.S. economy, culture, technology, demographics, and politics reflect a fundamental shift in American values? Do they need to be restored or refashioned as a predicate for addressing economic insecurity and inequality? This thought-provoking panel conversation from the Economic Security Summit brings together a distinguished and diverse array of voices that delved into the economic forces shaping the upcoming election.

This event features Stan Greenberg (Chairman and CEO, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research), Jacob Hacker (Director, Institution for Social and Policy Studies), Heather McGhee (President, Demos), J.D. Vance (Author, Hillbilly Elegy and Principal, Mithril Capital Management, LLC), and moderator Mickey Edwards (Director, Aspen Institute Rodel Fellowships in Public Leadership at the Aspen Institute).

This event is part of Reconnecting Work and Wealth, a joint set of work led by the Economic Opportunities Program and the Financial Security Program. Income and assets are both essential building blocks of household economic security and opportunity, and are intertwined in the economic lives of households. Together EOP and FSP are exploring how critical changes in recent decades are reshaping both labor and financial markets and leaving working families more vulnerable. Through publications, public convenings, and intensive dialogues with leaders in industry, academia, philanthropy, government, and nonprofit organizations, the Aspen Institute is advancing the conversation on how to ensure that hard work can lead to economic stability and mobility in today’s economy. Learn more at as.pn/workandwealth.

The Economic Opportunities Program advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy. 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).

The field of employee ownership is one in constant evolution. New forms of ownership are being created with some regularity, and the practice of starting and converting businesses to ownership continues to develop. These evolutions are in response to various factors including changing market conditions, policy and regulatory environments, and worker and business needs. But what they often share is a desire to innovate so that ownership and the benefits it provides can expand. This discussion will examine how companies and different organizations are innovating their models and practices to grow ownership in different regions in the US. Speakers include:

Christine Adee, Co-Chief Executive Officer, OwnersEdge, Inc.

Chris Cooper, Director, Ohio Employee Ownership Center

Corey Rosen, Founder and Senior Staff Member, National Center for Employee Ownership; Faculty Fellow and Member, Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing

Aquilina Soriano Versoza, Executive Director, Pilipino Workers Center; Executive Fellow, Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing

Mary Josephs, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Verit Advisors; Contributor, Forbes (moderator)

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/

National attention is increasingly focused on growing inequality, stagnating wages, rising unrest, and economic insecurity and immobility. From Occupy Wall Street to the Fight for $15, workers and their families have raised their voices for change in recent years, calling on society to uphold its values, including equal opportunity to succeed through work. How can these voices to be translated into changes in policies and practices? Can exercises of democratic rights – to free speech and association – provide a means for workers and their families to attain fair wages, reasonable hours, and safe working conditions? David Rolf, one of the nation’s most successful labor organizers in recent years, discusses his book The Fight for $15: The Right Wage for a Working America. He is joined by local labor leaders who share their experiences in today’s workplace and their efforts to engage their co-workers, advocating for better working conditions and revitalizing the democratic process.

This event features David Rolf (President, SEIU 775), Tanika Aden (Home Care Worker and Board Member of SEIU 775), Ridwan Axmed Geele (Airport Worker), Crystal Thompson (Fast Food Worker and Member of Working Washington), 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. 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.

We often hear that good jobs require college. For many, however, the road to a college degree presents more challenges than opportunities. The costs of a four-year degree have soared, often leaving students with crippling debt, whether or not they are able to complete their degrees. At the same time, not as many jobs require a four-year degree as we once thought, meaning many students face the same low-wage job opportunities they faced before. We need another approach.

This event highlights a book by Dr. Katherine Newman and Hella Winston, Reskilling America: Learning to Labor in the Twenty-First Century. In it they argue that by committing to a targeted investment in vocational training institutions, we can provide opportunities for individuals to develop skills, access middle skill jobs, avoid crippling debt, and meet technical skill needs in critical industries. Opening comments about the book are followed by a panel discussion with Dr. Newman and experts in policy, education and training, and business.

This event features Katherine S. Newman, Michael G. Johnson (CEO of Johnson Talent Development), Andy Van Kleunen (Chief Executive Officer, National Skills Coalition), and Sandi Vito (Director, 1199SEIU/League Training and Upgrading Fund).

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. 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.

As work demands more of employees’ time, many are asking: How can I earn a living while making sure my family doesn’t fall behind? Workers across all income brackets struggle with the United States’ outdated work-life policy framework, but the balancing act is particularly challenging and risky for low- and moderate-income workers and their families who have smaller financial margins and a weak safety net.

In her new book, Finding Time: The Economics of Work-Life Conflict, Heather Boushey argues that resolving work-life conflicts is as vital for individuals and families as it is essential for realizing the country’s productive potential. Boushey, executive director and chief economist of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, presents detailed innovations — at municipal, state, and company levels — that illustrate how US policy can ease the burden on American families and ensure our country’s economic stability. Through personal anecdotes, real-life profiles, and extensive statistical research, Boushey demonstrates that economic efficiency and equity can be reconciled if we have the vision to forge a new social contract for business, government, and private citizens.

This event features Heather Boushey (Executive Director, Chief Economist at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth) 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. 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.

Traditional economic development focused on attracting large companies promising many jobs has left behind many people in communities across the country, including working people, low-income individuals and families, people of color and immigrants. But some communities have taken a different approach, one that embraces and cultivates local assets and ownership and that empowers traditionally excluded communities. This event explores the approaches these communities have taken, including alternative business ownership models, leveraging the purchasing power of large public and nonprofit institutions to bolster communities, robust workforce development, more equitable infrastructure development, and more. Panelists discuss how inclusive economic development cultivates economic opportunity and quality jobs for community residents.

This event features Dwight C. Jones (Mayor, Richmond, Virginia), Marjorie Kelly (Executive Vice President and Senior Fellow, The Democracy Collaborative), Sanjay Pinto (Sociologist and Fellow, The Worker Institute, Cornell University; Fellow, Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations), Emily Kawano (Co-Director, Wellspring Cooperative Corporation), and moderator Dorian T. Warren (Fellow, The Roosevelt Institute;  MSNBC contributor; Board Chair, Center for Community Change).

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. 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.

The holidays are a critical time for retail companies and workers. The National Retail Federation anticipates that holiday sales this year will make up approximately 19 percent of the retail industry’s annual sales of $3.2 trillion. Holiday spending also impacts the paychecks, schedules, and work-life balance of the 15 million retail workers in the United States, who make up more than 10 percent of total US employment. For these workers, the holidays often amplify year-round job stress they already face, including stress caused by unpredictable and changing work schedules, on-call shifts that may not materialize, and unexpected early dismissals. Unstable schedules — combined with other common workplace conditions like lack of paid leave, low wages, and little investment in workforce training — reduce employee engagement and contribute to high turnover and job instability. Recent studies also find that this type of unstable employment has negative implications for workers’ health — and for health care costs — and for the well-being of workers’ children. Recently, however, more retailers have begun looking at how business models could include better jobs for retail workers. We invite you to take time out of your busy holiday season to learn more about retail workers’ jobs and schedules, better business models, policy remedies, and ideas for jobs that will make happy holidays for everyone.

This event features Susan J. Lambert (Associate Professor, School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago), William Tompkins (Senior Vice President for Human Resources, Macy’s Inc.), Jodie Levin-Epstein (Deputy Director, CLASP), and moderator Teresa Tritch (Editorial Board Member, The New York Times).

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. 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.

Headlines about work abound with projections that employment as we know it is quickly fading away. Jobs are sliced-and-diced into “micro-tasks,” and employees are replaced by an army of contractors. Some blue-collar workers do not even know whom they work for, technically, due to the layers of contracting that separate them from the company to which they deliver services. The on-demand or “sharing” economy is exploding. Microenterprises are proliferating. Estimates of the percentage of the workforce that is “contingent” (or freelance, contract or self-employed) range widely from four to 40 percent.

This panel discusses the scope of these phenomena, what is driving this trend, and the implications for workers trying to earn a living in today’s economy. As the social contract between employers and employees deteriorates, how do workers access stable and adequate incomes, protections from abuse, and basic benefits like health care and retirement? As the nature of work evolves, how should labor and social policies evolve to ensure work in America can still lead families to a better future? Panelists explore policy alternatives for today and for the future.

This event features Sen. Mark Warner (US Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia), Jared Bernstein (Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; Board Chair, National Employment Law Project), Natalie Foster (Fellow, The Institute for the Future; Co-Founder, Peers), Saket Soni (Director, National Guestworker Alliance and New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice), David Williams (Chief Tax Officer, Intuit Inc.), and moderator Yuki Noguchi (National Correspondent, NPR).

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. 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.

Labor unions traditionally have been the voice of workers seeking better pay, benefits, and jobs and have been a critical means for working people to improve their working conditions, incomes, and social standing. The right to form and join a labor union is enshrined in the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But in the United States, union membership and the commitment to unions is not as strong. Union membership has fallen from a high of 34.8 percent of wage and salary workers in 1954 to 11.1 percent in 2014. Recently, a number of states and the courts have taken actions that weaken labor unions. Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin have joined 22 other mostly southern and western states and adopted “right to work” laws that undermine labor union membership. Last year, the US Supreme Court ruled against the home care worker union in the Harris v. Quinn case.

The future of workers’ voice in shaping their jobs today and tomorrow is at a crossroads. Are traditional labor unions able to successfully represent workers today — especially those in fast-growing, low-wage service sector jobs — or have they been too weakened? What are the new models and organizations that have started to emerge over the last two decades? And fundamentally, how can the nation hear from workers themselves and understand their experience of work today if there is no organized voice that brings their perspective to public and private discussions about jobs and work?

A number of both traditional unions and new types of organizations are taking on this challenge of finding new ways to represent the experience of working people in today’s economy. This panel discussion explores issues affecting the future of worker voice and new ways of organizing workers to collectively shape and improve their jobs and careers.

This event features Sarita Gupta (Executive Director, Jobs With Justice), Ruth Milkman (Professor of Sociology and Research Director, CUNY’s Murphy Labor Institute), David Rolf (President, SEIU 775; Founder and Co-Chair, The Workers Lab), Judge Laura Safer Espinoza (Executive Director, Fair Food Standards Council), Cruz Salucio (Watermelon harvester and Spokesperson, Coalition of Immokalee Workers), and moderator Harold Meyerson (Editor-at-Large, The American Prospect; Columnist, The Washington Post)

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. 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.

The sharing economy has gained traction and attention in the last few years. Also known as the “gig economy,” “consumer-to-consumer sharing,” and “peer-to-peer marketplaces,” the term “sharing economy” is used to describe a wide variety of exchanges between people, including property, skills, labor, or space. By using an online platform to connect users and providers, this system puts a modern spin on old-fashioned bartering, swapping, borrowing, and trading — and greatly expands the scope and scale of potential exchanges.

Sharing economy companies include Airbnb (rent a room or your house), Uber (provide rides), TaskRabbit (do chores for others), and Instacart (be a personal grocery shopper), to name a few. There were an estimated 80 million sharers in the United States in 2013 – although that included 33 million “resharers,” those who buy and/or sell pre-owned goods online at sites like Craigslist (Vision Critical and Crowd Companies).

Revenue estimates vary from $3.5 billion in the U.S. in 2013 (Forbes) to $335 billion globally in 2025 (PricewaterhouseCoopers). Many have touted this system’s benefits for consumers, including convenient and affordable services and shared goods. But what are the benefits — and the downsides — of the sharing economy for the workers who provide the services? What is the influence of the sharing economy on the future of work? What are the implications for public policy and business practice?

This event features Shelby Clark (Executive Director, Peers), Sarah Kessler (Reporter, Fast Company), Wingham Rowan (Director, Beyond Jobs), Steven Strauss (Visiting Professor, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University), and moderator Catherine Rampell (Opinion Writer, The Washington Post).

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. 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.

A good job is the most important factor in helping people escape poverty. How do some employers create consistently high-quality jobs for even front-line employees, while their competitors offer only middling pay and poor employee satisfaction? This event highlights how companies can invest in their front-line workers to create a better workplace and strong results for customers and shareholders.

The event features three companies from the Hitachi Foundation’s Pioneer Employers Initiative, which focuses on the business case for investing in front-line workers. This initiative has identified nearly 100 companies that are securing a sustainable competitive advantage through increased productivity, revenues from new market segments, and improved quality of product or service by creating genuine opportunities for employees to thrive in the workplace and move up the economic ladder.

This event features Drew Greenblatt (President, Marlin Steel), David Owen (Primary Care Medical Director, South Jordan Health Center), Kelly Wolske (Senior Trainer, Zappos Insights), and moderater Steven Pearlstein (Columnist, The Washington Post ).

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. 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.

Lack of affordable, reliable, and efficient transportation options is one of the most common challenges for low-income workers and job seekers, and, by extension, their employers. Americans spend an average of 18 percent of household income on transportation and the poorest one-fifth of families spend more than twice as much; the vast majority of these transportation costs are for buying, operating, and maintaining an automobile.

Public transportation can be a much cheaper option, but millions of workers lack access to buses and trains, the routes often do not efficiently connect workers from their homes to their jobs (and stops in between such as child care), and budgets for public transportation are consistently under threat. However, improved and expanded public transportation remains an important part of the solution to helping low- and moderate-income workers get to work and helping employers get access to the workforces they need.

Panelists discuss the specific transportation challenges workers face, creative and cost effective solutions being explored and implemented across the country, and examples of how communities, organizations, and employers have mobilized to address this critical workforce issue.

This event features Joan Byron (Director of Policy, Pratt Center for Community Development), Anita Hairston (Associate Director, PolicyLink), Yvonne Hunter (Chair, Friends of Transit; Leader in the employer-driven campaign, Transit Means Business) Beverly A. Scott, Ph.D. (General Manager, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority; Administrator, MassDOT Rail & Transit), and moderater Emily Badger (Reporter, The Washington Post).

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. 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.

In this clip, Ford Foundation Senior Program Officer Margot Brandenburg and Aspen Institute Vice President Maureen Conway (who also serves as executive director of the Institute’s Economic Opportunities Program) provide opening remarks for the second day of the 2024 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum.

The Forum is 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/

In MIT Sloan professor Zeynep Ton’s game-changing book, The Good Jobs Strategy: How the Smartest Companies Invest in Employees to Lower Costs & Boost Profits, she discusses how companies such as Costco offer good jobs to workers, low prices and excellent service to customers, and great returns to shareholders all at the same time. What makes good jobs not only possible but very profitable—even in low-cost service businesses—is a set of counterintuitive choices that transforms the company’s investment in workers into high performance. What are these choices? Offer less, combine standardization with empowerment, cross-train, and operate with slack. It’s a combination that lowers operating costs, increases worker productivity, and, as “The Good Jobs Strategy” shows over and over, puts workers — yes, even cashiers and stockroom workers—at the center of a company’s success. In this strategy, “everyone — employees, customers, and investors — wins.” In this discussion, Ms. Ton and Mr. Richard Galanti, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Director of Costco Wholesale Corporation, explore how the strategy works in a company like Costco and the implications for creating better jobs in our economy.

This event features Susan Crane (Executive Director, SkillUp Washington), Sally Clark (Councilmember, Seattle City Council), Zeynep Ton (Associate Professor, MIT Sloan School of Business), Richard Galanti (Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Director, Costco Wholesale Corporation), and moderator Maureen Conway (Director, Aspen Institute 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. 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.

Young adults and teens face significant challenges in finding quality employment in today’s economy. The employment rate of teens is at its lowest point since World War II, and young adults have seen their employment rate drop by over 10 percentage points since 2000. For young workers, a lack of work experience can be a huge barrier to entering the labor market or finding a quality job.

More businesses have shifted away from hiring entry-level workers and investing in their training and development, and instead prioritize job candidates with experience. For those who have found employment, low wages, part-time hours, and limited advancement opportunities are not uncommon.

This conversation discusses the challenges young workers face in today’s economy and ideas for expanding meaningful volunteer, on-the-job learning, and entrepreneurship opportunities to help our newest generation of workers gain the experiences and skills they need to be successful in the labor market.

This event features John Bridgeland (President and CEO, Civic Enterprises), LaShauntaye Moore (Earth Conservation Corps), Henry Rock (Executive Director and Founder, City Startup Labs), Elizabeth Shuler (Secretary-Treasurer/Chief Financial Officer, AFL-CIO), and moderator Nona Willis Aronowitz (National Reporter, NBC News Digital).

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. 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.

Many working Americans today must regularly choose between earning a paycheck or caring for themselves and their loved ones. Over 40 million working Americans lack paid sick days. Many of these workers not only forgo earnings, but also risk losing their jobs to stay at home to care for their children or themselves as they recover from short-term illnesses, such as the flu. Frequently employed in areas such as food service, retail sales, nursing homes and child-care facilities, these workers, when working sick, not only jeopardize their own health, but potentially that of the patients, customers and colleagues with whom they interact.

Longer leave needed for serious medical issues or the birth of a new child is an even more difficult issue. The Family and Medical Leave Act, passed in 1993, guarantees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to covered workers and has been used over 100 million times since its inception. But since this leave is unpaid, many cannot afford to take it.

In addition, only a little more than half of the U.S. workforce is covered by FMLA since establishments with 50 or fewer employees are not covered by the law, and workers need to meet job tenure and hours worked requirements before becoming eligible. This situation is not only bad news for workers and customers, businesses themselves may experience decreased worker productivity and increased worker turnover when employees must put work ahead of health and family. As this issue gains attention, a number of states and localities are implementing or exploring paid sick or family leave laws.

In this conversation, panelists discuss challenges faced by workers, parents and employers in managing this issue and explore ideas for practices and policies that can better support the workforce, families, and the economy.

This event features Ellen Bravo (Executive Director, Family Values @ Work), Alison Earle (Senior Research Scientist, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University), John Feehery (President of Communications and Director of Public Affairs, Quinn Gillespie and Associates), Makini Howell (Owner and Chef, Plum Bistro Restaurants), and moderator Brigid Schulte(Social Issues Reporter, The Washington Post).

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. 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.