Experiences from the Front Lines of Employee Ownership
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A newsletter from the Aspen Institute’s Economic Opportunities Program. Subscribe for highlights from the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum.
Picture a workplace where the landscaper, the cashier, the home care worker or the forklift operator isn’t just an employee — they’re an owner helping shape the future of their company and sharing in the value they help create.
In this issue of “From the Forum,” we’re highlighting powerful stories from employee-owners who show how ownership transforms careers, workplaces, and lives. These stories come from the 2025 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 — whose theme, “From Workers to Owners,” explored how the experience of ownership can reshape the nature of work, the workplace, and business. These employee-owners’ experiences remind us that honoring Labor Day means more than celebrating the contributions of workers and the labor movement — it’s also about expanding the possibilities of what work can be and the financial and non-financial rewards it provides.
Owning It: Experiences from the Front Lines of Employee Ownership
In this panel from the 2025 Employee Ownership Forum, four inspiring employee-owners share how employee ownership transformed their careers and workplaces. From fresh graduates to seasoned employees, each story shows a different path into ownership — and the personal and professional growth it sparked. These firsthand accounts bring to life the empowerment, pride, and shared success that come with ownership.
Check out the highlights
Related Resource
ACE in the Hole: ACE Hardware’s Gina Schaefer on Becoming an ESOP
This podcast features Gina Schaefer of ACE Hardware discussing how her 13-store chain transitioned to employee ownership, building generational wealth for workers while navigating succession planning and leadership in a male-dominated industry.
Case Studies of Worker Cooperatives in Health: Cooperatives Home Care Associate
This case study explores how Cooperative Home Care Associates advances workplace democracy and job quality while navigating the challenges of a profit-driven healthcare system.
About the Employee Ownership Ideas Forum
The Employee Ownership Ideas Forum brings 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. It is hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program and Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing.
About the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing
The purpose of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing is to study the various models that have emerged and will emerge of employee ownership shares and profit shares in the corporation and society of the United States and around the world.
About the Economic Opportunities Program
The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy.
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Owning It: Experiences from the Front Lines of Employee Ownership
