What Grabbed Your Attention in 2025
The Ownership Economy Newsletter • Vol. 127
Welcome Back
One thing: Thank you. This is our last newsletter of 2025, and we couldn’t be more grateful to you, our readers, for hanging with us in a turbulent year.
A special thanks to the Rutgers Institute for their sponsorship of The Stakehold in 2025; and to Tiffany, Megan, and Evan for all their hard work this year.
We couldn’t have done it without you! May you have happy and healing holidays; and here’s to a bright 2026.
In this issue
Top shelf news
In the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Marjorie Kelly makes the case for investing in the ownership economy
Employee Ownership Canada breaks down what the 2025 budget means for Canadian employee ownership trusts
Tandem announced a new book on direct employee ownership, out in 2026
What grabbed your attention in 2025
We compiled the top ten links from our most-read newsletters this year:
Jim Bonham’s presentation at the 2025 Rutgers/Aspen Employee Ownership Ideas Forum
Prof. Hand’s post on the “why” of employee ownership
Joe Blasi’s LinkedIn post on the Retire Through Ownership Act and the Employee Ownership Representation Act
Ezra Klein’s interview on economic populism with Jared Abbott, Director of the Center for Working-Class Politics
Common Trust’s EOT Playbook
Joseph Blasi’s LinkedIn post about Harvard’s the Ownership Project report on worker ownership
Transform Finance’s report, The Trillion-Dollar Opportunity Hiding in Plain Sight
Rachel Eva Merfalen’s write-up on the Ownership Economy Summit
Jennifer Briggs’ post, Beyond the Numbers: The Missing Layers of Transparency and Open Book Management
Marjorie Kelly’s LinkedIn post introducing the Innovative Finance Initiative
Events and recaps
For a full list of upcoming events, see our Events page. And share your conference recaps with us! Coming up:
Jan 7: Employee Ownership Trusts: Policy Needs, Implementation, and Opportunities, hosted by the Rocky Mountain Center for Employee Ownership
Jan 9-11: Rutgers Institute’s annual Kelso Fellows Workshop in New Brunswick, NJ
Conference recaps
The Rutgers Institute released the recording of their 8th Annual Private Equity and Employee Share Ownership Symposium
Last week, UK leaders in the employee ownership space gathered for a roundtable on purpose-driven business
Katherine Bond reflects on her experience at last week’s Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship convening (including words from our own Dr. Hand!); Tara Sabre Collier highlights how for real change to occur it, purpose and impact must be built into the businesses we design
Beth Gohl-Greenaway curated a December roundup for the sustainable business and corporate governance space
The Employee-Owned Contractors Roundtable hosted its second summit last week in Washington, DC
Sabre Collier and Juliana Uribe Villegas recapped the recent Skoll Centre Community Convening, including Prof. Hand’s workshop on purpose, power, and profits
Owner voices
Common Trust published a case study on The Ready, now an employee ownership trust, highlighting how stewardship and transparency are built into its ethos
Expanding ESOPs highlights their favorite quotes from employee owners this year
From the UK: CEO Rhys Thomas shares his company’s transition story, and Barry Horner explores the human-side of employee ownership and the human side of employee ownership transitions
Cooperative worker-owners Kate Smith and Claire Christensen share their ownership stories
HB Global celebrated 15 years of employee ownership, including contributing more than $200 million to employee retirement accounts
ICYMI: Ownership Capital Lab produced videos about three employee-owned firms: Apex Underground, Yolo Eco Clean Cooperative, and Namaste Solar
Employee stock ownership plans
Southern Building Group of Tennessee and Avis Alaska are now both employee-owned via an ESOP. Congratulations!
NCEO’s Corey Rosen outlines what IRS 59-60 means for ESOP valuations
The latest episode of The Ownership Effect podcast dives into the history of ESOPs
Worker cooperatives
A new case study of landscape architecture firm EnviroCollab highlights the ability of cooperatives to create responsibility and opportunity
Leaders in the cooperative space, Camille Kerr and Kimberley Britt, have found their new home as co-executive directors
The International Cooperative Alliance released their December newsletter, featuring new policy briefs and case studies
The NCBA CLUSA announced their Cooperative Hall of Fame 2026 class. Congratulations to all!
New job posting: Cooperative Fund of the Northeast is looking for a Loan and Outreach Officer for Maine
Purpose trusts and steward ownership
The Exit Planning Institute highlights the role of employee ownership trusts as mission-driven succession tools
The European Union is taking steps towards making steward ownership transitions easier within the bloc
PURPOSE submitted three steward-ownership proposals to SXSW London. Cast a vote to show your support!
Employee ownership opinion and analysis
Impact Charitable breaks down the ownership models the Unlock Ownership Fund invested in during its first year of operation
EOX released their December newsletter, including year in review numbers and a spotlight on Michigan’s grant program
A new ImpactAlpha piece by Roody Senates explores employee-led buyout strategies that are raising capital to compete with private equity buyers
Writing for Inc, Bill Fotsch emphasizes how economic engagement and buy-in via ownership results in superior company performance
The North Carolina Employee Ownership Center has received grant funding to continue their outreach efforts
Project Equity highlights how employee ownership can provide Black workers with greater economic opportunity
Nikishka Iyengar urges caution on private equity’s embrace of employee ownership
NCEO announced Shannon Litton as keynote speaker for their upcoming Women’s Summit
Corey Rosen dissects the two proposals in Congress concerning employee ownership, one focused on cooperatives, the other on employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs)
New job posting: The Massachusetts Center for Employee Ownership is hiring a temporary administrator as they expand their center
The ownership economy
A new EU survey found that a majority of Europeans are not only familiar with, but very supportive of, “social economy values”
Roanhorse Consulting is reimagining business practices through the lens of indigenous teachings and principles
Writing for ImpactAlpha, David Bank argues that expanding wealth building opportunities should be top of the mind in 2026
A Nonprofit Quarterly article explores how Australia offers a model for baking social enterprise into the ethos of a more sustainable economy
Common Future’s Co-CEO Sandhya Nakhasi spotlights the work of Vesi and the Kensington Corridor Trust in reclaiming community ownership
Global Perspectives released a new podcast episode on community-based economics
A conversation on community-led strategies for increasing political and economic power recorded at SOCAP25 is now available as a podcast
📚 Academic updates
Takao Kato, Hideaki Miyajima, and Hideo Owan published a book chapter showing that in Japan, employee ownership raises boosts labor productivity more than it raises wages, resulting profitability gains
Regina Kazanjian published her masters’ thesis on a Finnish company's transition to steward ownership. Congratulations, Regina!
ICYMI: Earlier this year, Grant Hayden (EO+WD cofounder!) and Matthew Brodie published The Problem of Purpose in Corporate Law, arguing that you can’t sustainably alter a company’s purpose without also altering its governance
Also from earlier this year and worth a look: Anthony Piscitelli, Sean Geobey and company frame up what it means for directors to act in The Best Interests of a Cooperative