The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program (EOP) advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy. To learn more about our work, visit aspeninstitute.org/eop.
We are pleased to present a selection of our work from the past month.
Videos
Re-Entry and Good Jobs: Building the Second Chances We All Believe In
- How Structural Discrimination Erects Barriers to Employment — Daryl Atkinson, Forward Justice
- 80 Million People Have Criminal Records — What That Means for Re-Entry and Opportunity — Beth Avery, NELP
- How Employment Discrimination and Parole Conditions Impact Workers — Beth Avery, NELP
- Clean Slate Laws: A Game-Changer for Second Chances — Sharon Dietrich, Community Legal Services
- The Challenges of Finding a Job After Incarceration — Sappho Fulton, Womxn Beyond Borders
- Having a Criminal Record Locks People Out of Opportunity — Sappho Fulton, Womxn Beyond Borders
- How Washington’s TRAC Program Trains People for Good Jobs While Incarcerated — Minna Long, Washington State Building & Construction Trades Council
- How To Build an Inclusive Workplace Culture — Gina Schaefer, A Few Cool Hardware Stores
Driving the Economy: The Essential and Undervalued Work of Truckers
- We Need Better Jobs in the Trucking Industry — Desiree Wood, REAL Women in Trucking
- How California’s AB5 Addresses Misclassification in Trucking — Michael Muñoz, LAANE
- Fighting Wage Theft and Misclassification in Trucking — Rebecca King, Getman, Sweeney & Dunn
- Ensuring Safety, Health, and Security for Truck Drivers — Robin Hutcheson, Hutcheson Advisory
- Exposing Lease-Purchase Scams and Debt Traps in Trucking — Steve Viscelli, University of Pennsylvania
Advancing Innovation and Fairness in Small Business Finance
- A Conversation with Michael Barr, Federal Reserve Board of Governors
- Driving Innovation in Small Business Lending
- Ensuring that Innovation Benefits Small Businesses: The Role of Guardrails
The Potential for Scaling Technology: Increased Labor Productivity… If We Get It Right — A Conversation with Asutosh Padhi, McKinsey & CompanyInterview with Maureen Conway, VP at The Aspen Institute and Adria Scharf, Associate Director at Rutgers Institute by Edwin Warfield, citybiz
Podcasts
- Re-Entry and Good Jobs: Building the Second Chances We All Believe In
- Driving the Economy: The Essential and Undervalued Work of Truckers
- The Potential for Scaling Technology: Increased Labor Productivity… If We Get It Right — A Conversation with Asutosh Padhi, McKinsey & Company
- Advancing Innovation and Fairness in Small Business Finance — A Conversation with Michael Barr
- Driving Innovation in Small Business Lending
- Ensuring that Innovation Benefits Small Businesses: The Role of Guardrails
Commentary
- Economic Opportunities Program Monthly Digest — February 2025
- Job Quality Newsletter — Worker Safety by Matt Helmer
- Education is Everywhere, Opportunity is Not: Insights from a week in Washington, DC by Chelsea Miller, UpSkill America
- The Future of Workers and AI: Control Over Workplace Activity Data is Key by Mary Gray, Microsoft Research
- It All Comes Down to Our People: Leslie Kass on Employee Ownership by Leslie Kass, Lewis Services
- The AI Upskilling Conundrum: Are We Falling Behind? by Haley Glover, UpSkill America
- Resource Roundup — Public Servants by Maxwell Johnson
- The Potential for Scaling Technology: Increased Labor Productivity… If We Get It Right — A Conversation with Asutosh Padhi, McKinsey & Company
In the News
- Helping Small Businesses Reach Their Potential by Michael Barr
- Remarks prepared for our March 24 event, “Advancing Innovation and Fairness in Small Business Finance”
- Fed’s Barr suggests lending protections for small businesses by Kyle Campbell, American Banker
- Coverage of our March 24 event, “Advancing Innovation and Fairness in Small Business Finance”
- Fed’s Barr highlights small business challenges and solutions by Luke Juricic, Investing.com
- Coverage of our March 24 event, “Advancing Innovation and Fairness in Small Business Finance”
- Interview with Maureen Conway, VP at The Aspen Institute and Adria Scharf, Associate Director at Rutgers Institute by Edwin Warfield, citybiz
- Interview on employee ownership, ahead of this year’s Employee Ownership Ideas Forum, April 9-10
Upcoming Events
April 30: Working and Homeless in America — A Book Talk with Brian Goldstone.April 9-10: Employee Ownership Ideas Forum, hosted in partnership with the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing. Click here to secure an all-day pass, or register for select individual sessions on Zoom below.
Wednesday, April 9
- 12:00 p.m. ET — Fireside Chat: The Employee Ownership Advantage
- 1:10 p.m. ET — Securing the Future of America’s Critical Industries through Employee Ownership
- 2:10 p.m. ET — Owning It: Experiences from the Front Lines of Employee Ownership
- 3:35 p.m. ET — The Employee Ownership Agenda: Views From the Hill
Thursday, April 10
- 9:15 a.m. ET — Five Big Ideas for Employee Ownership
- 11:30 a.m. ET — Employee Ownership and the Future of the American Worker
- 1:30 p.m. ET — Bridging the Gap: Institutional Investment and Employee Ownership
- 2:45 p.m. ET — Strengthening Small Business through Employee Ownership
- 3:45 p.m. ET — Industry Spotlight: Health Care and Employee Ownership