A Trillion Dollar Opportunity?
Weekend Newsletter, Vol. 103
🤗 Welcome Back
Welcome back to The Stakehold (formerly the EO+WD weekend newsletter)! We’ve got lots for you to read this week; dig in.
🗺️ In This Issue
One Big Thing
Top Shelf News
Events + Opportunities
Analysis + Opinion
> On employee stock ownership plans
> On worker cooperatives
> On purpose trusts + steward ownership
> On the ownership economy
Academic Papers
In Case You Missed It
🙋♀️ One Big Thing
Thank you to our new paid subscribers—what a boost to have your support.
If you’ve been enjoying The Stakehold, we’d be grateful if you would consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support helps lets us continue to dig into the worlds of employee ownership, the ownership economy, and more.
📰 Top Shelf News
2 reports, 2 posts, 1 new Substack from industry leaders:
From Transform Finance: The Trillion-Dollar Opportunity Hiding in Plain Sight – Why Investors Are Paying Attention to Employee Ownership
From Lafayette Square Institute: Financing the Growth of
Matt Helmer of Aspen Economic Opportunities Program lays out the connection between employee ownership and the broader ownership economy
Neil McInroy asks How economically democratic are social enterprises?
Dr. Hand and Daphne Berry have an article coming out about this soon—email us for a copy!
Jennifer Briggs has a beautiful new Substack; her most recent post covers open book management
Policy wins:
HB 3646, a new Oregon law, gives ESOPs preference in state procurement, a win for employee-owned businesses
The Senate HELP Committee advanced Daniel Aronowitz’s nomination to head the Employee Benefits Security Administration, marking progress in federal support for employee ownership
Shameless self-promotion:
Tiffany, Dr. Hand, and Zoe Schlag got physical copies of their new book chapter! Email us for a digital copy of our contribution, Utilizing Purpose Trusts for Rural Succession and Community Resilience
🌆 Events + Opportunities
The U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives is hiring a Deputy Director and a Director of Operations and Finance
The Edmunson Scholarship offers ten $2,000 awards to non-management employee-owners to attend ESOP Association events like the Fall Conference in Dallas. Apply by July 15 to support your growth in employee ownership!
Adria Scharf announces an opportunity for nominations for the 2026 Joyce Rothschild Book Prize 2026, reinforcing the influence of thought leadership in the employee ownership and purpose-driven business community
July 2: Friends of the Public Bank East Bay host Oscar Abello, Next City journalist and author of The Banks We Deserve (in Richmond, CA)
For a full list of upcoming ownership economy events, see this page.
🔍 Analysis + Opinions
> On employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs)
John Solimine from Verit Advisors talks ESOP integration strategies in a LinkedIn Q&A, offering practical guidance for advisors and companies
The Texas Center for Employee Ownership discusses succession planning and employee ownership, highlighting ESOPs as a method for ensuring business continuity
Apis & Heritage closes an $85 million financing round to support worker-ownership conversions, showcasing large-scale capital enabling ESOP transitions
Expanding ESOPs outlines “one of the most compelling advantages” of ESOPs, highlighting how ownership can drive deeper employee engagement and firm performance
ESCA applauds Senator Ron Johnson for his support of employee-owned S‑corporation legislation aimed at enhancing tax & structural benefits for employee-owned firms
ESCA also highlights how employee‑owned S‑corporations could help mitigate income inequality by giving workers partner‑level participation in profits and governance
> On worker cooperatives
The ICA Group announces that Hollywood-based creative agency AV Squad is now fully employee-owned and spotlights a ride‑hailing company structured around employee ownership, showcasing an alternative to traditional gig economy models
Trace Cohen spotlights cooperatives delivering inspired creativity, noting co-op structures support innovative work environments driven by collective ownership
Ali Rehman highlights how cooperative business models, especially in creative industries, are fueling innovation and collective purpose in the workforce
NCEOC checks on Sow True Seed, which became a worker cooperative three years ago
Jason Wiener highlights Rust Belt Riders in their June newsletter
> On purpose trusts + steward ownership
PURPOSE shares a new video explaining steward‑ownership and its ability to help businesses maintain mission-driven governance over the long term
Also see PURPOSE’s short history of steward ownership in the US
Common Trust compares Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) to help business owners understand and choose between the two popular ownership models
Employee Ownership Ireland celebrated EO Day 2025 by announcing funding to support a greater uptake of employee ownership and highlights the growth of Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) in Ireland
> On the ownership economy
EO Sector highlights how the construction industry in the UK is driving a wave of employee ownership transitions, showing momentum for employee ownership abroad
From Project Equity:
Emily Bergstrom argues that expanding employee ownership could boost the U.S. manufacturing sector’s resilience by aligning workers’ stakes with company success
David Kenney writes in Equities.com that impact investors shouldn’t overlook employee ownership as a key opportunity for creating lasting change
Erinch Sahan discusses how employee ownership ties into broader governance reforms and societal resilience, advocating for its expansion beyond just financial gains
Curt Lyon reports growing enthusiasm around community-owned breweries, emphasizing how local stakeholder investment fosters both creativity and shared prosperity in the craft beer sector
Bruce Katz and Michael Saadine argue for more localization of capital
Elle Griffin explores the concept of Terra0, a project where a forest owns itself, earns income, and self-governs through smart contracts, raising questions about land personhood, inspired by real-world examples like New Zealand's Whanganui River
While in hospice, Andrew Kassoy, co-founder of B Lab , gathered with other co-founders and leaders to talk about the movement, its origins, and his greatest aspirations for future leaders:
📚 Academic Papers
David Ellerman questions corporate personhood, stakeholder theory, and entrenched employment hierarchies, and argues the real issue lies in the employer–employee relationship
Salma Khachouch and Asmâa Alaoui Taib published The impact of employee ownership as a resilience strategy on firm performance before and during crisis: A literature review
🚨 ICYMI
Expanding ESOPs features a testimonial from a business founder who describes selling the company to an ESOP as “a gift from heaven”
Elle Griffin traces OpenAI’s governance shifts and argues that employee-led boards and not investors or nonprofits may best ensure accountability for powerful tech like AI
See similar arguments from Erinch Sahan and Kevin Jones, and learn about Anthropic’s Long-Term Benefit Trust
The ICA Group analyzes how cannabis sector firms are implementing redistributive ownership models, potentially sharing profits and power more equitably with employees and communities
