Employee Ownership Ideas Forum 2026: Owning America’s Future

About the Forum

In-person attendance is free for speakers, media, congressional staffers, and federal government employees, and $100 for all other attendees (tickets are nonrefundable). Virtual attendance is free for all.

Please note: In-person registration is now full. To be added to the waitlist, contact Matt Helmer, matt.helmer@aspeninstitute.org.

Agenda

Speakers to be added

JUNE 2ND, 2026

9:30-5:00 pm  (Breakfast and doors at 8:30 am)

Top of the Hill, 1 Constitution Ave NE, Washington DC

8:30-9:30  Breakfast and Networking

9:30  Welcoming Remarks

• Maureen Conway, Vice President, The Aspen Institute, Executive Director, Economic Opportunities Program
• Dr. William Castellano, Director, The Institute for the Program Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing, Rutgers University

9:45  Keynote Speaker

• Gina Schaefer, Founder and Co-Owner, A Few Cool Hardware Stores

9:55  What Ownership Means: Employee Owners in Their Own Words

Employee ownership looks compelling on paper, but what does it actually mean to have a stake in the place where you work? This session puts employee owners at the center, sharing firsthand accounts of how ownership has changed their relationship to their work, their workplace, and their futures, offering an unfiltered look at the promises and realities of building an economy where more workers have a real share in what they create.

• Charlie Arrindell, Division Manager, Lewis Tree Services
• Jill Ferdinand, Team Lead of the Northeast Demand CreationTeam, Parksite/Atlantic Plywood
• Krystal Thompson, Senior Software Solutions Advisor, Advisors for Change
• Nicole Vitello, Vice President, Equal Exchange
• Moderator: Matt Helmer, Director of Job Quality and Worker Well-Being, The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program

10:30  Keynote Speaker

• The Honorable Ron Johnson, US Senator from Wisconsin

11:00  Break

11:15  Keynote Speaker

• Jim Bonham, CEO and President, The ESOP Association

11:25  Keynote Speaker

• The Honorable Tim Kaine, US Senator from Virginia

11:35  Made Here, Owned Here: Employee Ownership in Manufacturing

American manufacturing continues to face an uncertain future, with decades of offshoring and consolidation hollowing out communities and leaving workers behind. This session explores how employee ownership models can help sustain existing manufacturers, support the rebuilding of domestic production capacity, advance our national competitiveness, and ensure that the workers who make things in America have a real stake in the businesses they power.

• Opening Remarks: Douglas Kruse, Research Director, Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing
• Rich Cammarano, President and CEO, Tech Etch Inc
• Veda Clark, Chair of the Board of Directors, Lampin Corporation
• Elisabeth Reynolds, Professor of the Practice, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, MIT
• Moderator: Jack Moriarty, Executive Director, Lafayette Square Institute

12:30  Lunch

1:30  Keynote Speaker

• Phil Reeves, Founder and Managing Partner, Apis & Heritage

1:45  Keynote Speaker

• Loren Rodgers, Executive Director, National Center for Employee Ownership

2:00  Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing in Public Companies 

Public companies employ the majority of America's workforce, yet broad-based employee ownership remains and profit sharing the exception rather than the rule. This session will explore the current landscape of employee ownership in this sector, examine the opportunities and challenges for broader adoption, and discuss how we can realize the enormous untapped potential for expanding ownership culture across America's largest employers.

• Opening remarks: Dr. William Castellano, Director, Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing, Executive Director, NJ/NY Center for Employee Ownership
• Jason Kelly, Co-founder and CEO, Ginkgo Bioworks
• Ethan Rouen, Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Accounting and Management Unit at Harvard Business School, Faculty Co-chair of The Ownership Project
• Moderator: Mary Josephs, Founder and CEO, Verit Advisors, Contributor at Forbes Magazine

2:50  Keynote Speaker 

• Danny Massey, Head of Strategy and Communications, Expanding ESOPs

3:00  Break

3:30  How Universal Capitalism Can Provide Economic Fairness: A Fireside Chat with Steven Hill

• Steven Hill, Fellow, Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing, Author, Expand Social Security Now
• Moderator: Maureen Conway, Vice President, The Aspen Institute; Executive Director, Economic Opportunities Program

4:00  State Innovations in Employee Ownership

States are emerging as important laboratories for expanding employee ownership. From experimenting with new financing and investment tools to technical assistance and outreach programs, states are increasingly on the frontlines of helping more businesses transition to employee ownership. This session highlights some of the newest and most promising state-level innovations, the leaders driving them, and what other states and federal policymakers can learn from what's emerging.

• The Honorable Shannon Lundgren,  State Representative, Iowa
• The Honorable Andrew Zwicker, State Senator, New Jersey
• Hilary Abell, Chief of the Employee Ownership Division, US Department of Labor
• Moderator: Julien Rosenbloom, Senior Associate, Lafayette Square Institute

4:50  Closing Remarks

• Gwyneth Galbraith, Vice President and Philanthropy Program Officer, JPMorganChase

5:00  End of Day 1

JUNE 3RD, 2026

10:00-5:00 pm

The Aspen Institute, 2300 N St NW, Suite 700 Washington DC

9:00  Breakfast and Networking

10:00  Welcoming Remarks

• Paula D’Ambrosa, Director, Inclusive Wealth-Building, Prudential Financial

10:15  Five Big Ideas

• Sara Horowitz, Founder of the Mutualist Society, Founder of the Freelancers Union
• Esteban Kelly, Executive Director, The US Federation of Worker Cooperatives
• Ginny Vanderslice, Principal Emeritus, Praxis Consulting Group
• Felipe Witchger, Executive Director, Francesco Collaborative and the Livable Future Impact
• Sean-Tamba Matthew, Shareholder, Stevens & Lee and SES ESOP Strategies

11:00  Keynote Remarks

• Margot Brandenburg, Senior Program Officer, Mission Investments, The Ford Foundation

11:10  Moving Institutional Capital into Employee Ownership

Employee ownership has a compelling track record, but the model has yet to attract capital at the scale required to address the silver tsunami. That is beginning to change. This panel brings together investors and intermediaries from across the institutional landscape to explore what it would take to make employee ownership a mainstream investment strategy — and what a future looks like in which financial institutions are active partners in expanding ownership across the American economy.

• Regina Carls, Managing Director and Head of ESOP Advisory, JPMorganChase
• Jim Sorenson, Founder and CEO, Sorenson Impact Foundation
• Chavon Sutton, Managing Director, Sustainable and Impact Investing, Cambridge Associates, LLC
• Emily Thomas, Executive Director and the Head of Investing with Impact, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
• Moderator: Jack Moriarty, Executive Director, Lafayette Square Institute

12:00  Keynote Remarks

• Bharat Ramamurti, Former Deputy Director of the National Economic Council of the United States

12:05  Preview of lunch discussions from the Purpose Trust Ownership Network and Transform Finance

12:15  Lunch

Lunch Conversations

• Employee Ownership Trusts led by Jenny Everett and Issie Corvi at the Purpose Trust Ownership Network (2nd floor conference room, meet by elevators on 8th floor)
• Impact Framework for EO Investing: Project Update and Discussion led by Julie Menter and Amelia Ahl at Transform Finance (Penner conference room on 8th floor)

1:15  Shifting Culture to Advance Employee Ownership

Culture is an essential cornerstone that determines whether employee ownership translates into strong business outcomes and high quality jobs. This session explores the mindset shift required to move from passive participation to a vibrant culture of ownership—as well as the cultural shift required societally to prioritize worker ownership and economic empowerment. Panelists will discuss how a strong internal culture of ownership protects the dignity of work in an automated age and serves as a powerful competitive advantage, while also exploring the changes required to shift our economy towards a new understanding of ownership and profit distribution.

• Evan Edwards, CEO and President, Project Equity
• Melissa Hoover, Director of Ownership Culture, Apis & Heritage
• Chris Mackin, Founder, Ownership Associates, Partner, American Working Capital
• Anna-Lisa Miller, Executive Director, Ownership Works
• Moderator: Adria Scharf, Assistant Professor, Senior Associate Director, Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing, Director of the Curriculum Library for Employee Ownership, Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations

2:15  Attendee Breakout Conversations

• Employee Ownership Capital Roadmap, led by Alison Lingane, Founder,  Ownership Capital Lab (Gildenhorn on 7th floor)
• Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition and Employee Ownership, led by Sean-Tamba Matthew, Shareholder, Stevens & Lee and SES ESOP Strategies (Penner conference room on 8th floor)
• Employee Ownership Research, led by Adria Scharf, Assistant Professor, Senior Associate Director, Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing, Director of the Curriculum Library for Employee Ownership, Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations (Steel conference room on 7th floor)

3:15  Break

3:45  Ownership During the AI Revolution

Artificial intelligence and automation promise to unleash a wave of productivity and economic growth—but without deliberate action, the gains will flow overwhelmingly to those who already own capital, deepening inequality and further disconnecting society from the value it helps create. This session explores how reimagining ownership—from broad-based worker equity to public-interest frameworks—can ensure that the AI-powered economy generates a true "social dividend" rather than a private windfall. Panelists will examine the risks of AI growth without consideration of ownership and social impact, how some organizations are already prioritizing shared value and governance, and what policy shifts could institutionalize this approach.

• Deric Cheng, Director of Research, Windfall Trust
• Anthony Cimino, Head of Federal Affairs, Anthropic
• Zoë B Cullen, Michael B. Kim Associate Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
• Richard Freeman, Herbert Ascherman Chair in Economics, Harvard University
• Moderator: Liba Wenig Rubenstein, Director, Future of Work Initiative at the Economic Opportunities Program, The Aspen Institute

4:55  Closing Remarks

5:00  Reception