Ownership for Equity: Building an Inclusive Economy through Employee Ownership

A disproportionate share of women and people of color are employed in the lowest paying jobs in the US, struggling to meet basic needs, much less build any wealth. Long-term trends show households of color face a widening wealth gap when compared to white households. Employee ownership offers a potential tool to address the wealth divide, improve job quality and agency in the workplace for women and people of color, and help to build a more inclusive and fair economy. In this conversation, speakers discuss how employee ownership can advance race and gender equity. It features a panel discussion with Melissa Hoover (Senior Fellow, Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing; Founder and Co-Executive Director, Democracy at Work Institute), Robynn Cox (Assistant Professor, School of Public Policy, University of California, Riverside), Sean-Tamba Matthew (Shareholder, Stevens & Lee, SES ESOP Strategies; Project Director for the Rutgers-Kellogg Project at the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing), Evan Edwards (CEO and Executive Director, Project Equity), Jeanne Wardford (Program Officer for Family Economic Security, The W.K. Kellogg Foundation), Sarah Keh (Vice President of Inclusive Solutions, Prudential Financial), and moderator J.J. McCorvey (Business and Innovation Reporter, NBCNews). For more information about this event — including video, audio, transcript, speaker bios, and additional resources — visit: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/videos/ownership-for-equity-building-an-inclusive-economy-through-employee-ownership/ This discussion was held on June 15, 2023, as part of the Employee Ownership Ideas Forum, co-hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program and the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers University. This two-day convening brought together leading policymakers, practitioners, experts, and the media for a robust discussion on how we can grow employee ownership for the shared benefit of American workers and businesses. Learn more: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/events/employee-ownership-ideas-forum/