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.

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