☀️ Hot Book Summer

and

Jul 25, 2025

Would you (yes, you!) consider writing a short book review for us? Some recently published options:
- John Abrams’ Founder to Future
- Brenna Davis’s Leading Through Fire
- David Harlley’s Distributive Capitalism
- John Kay’s The Corporation in the 21st Century: (h/t Mary J-L)
We’d love to hear what sparks your interest—or makes you 👀

On employee stock ownership plans
On worker cooperatives
On purpose trusts + employee ownership trusts
On the ownership economy

The full Senate HELP Committee held a big hearing on employee ownership:
- Rutgers Institute’s Joseph Blasi and leaders of three employee-owned companies were invited to testify
- The ESOP Association’s Jim Bonham released a supporting statement, and testified in another hearing earlier this week
Slovenia is on track to create a new kind of ESOP! (h/t Tej Gonza)

July 28: The Rutgers Institute’s Ownership, Equity, Democracy and Impact symposium (Copenhagen)
August 5-8: The Oxford Symposium on Employee Ownership in the UK
August 20: The ICA Group invites you to the MassHire Business Resource Seminar in Lawrence, MA
August 26: The Family Enterprise Center at Kennesaw State University’s webinar on ESOPs as A Tax Advantaged Ownership Transition Strategy for Family Business (h/t Will Lee)
👨‍💻 | Jobs: Common Trust is hiring a Business Development Representative; Project Equity hiring a Director of Ecosystem Development

For a full list of upcoming ownership economy events, see this page.

Cindy Mingxi Tang discusses ESOP repurchase obligations, a topic she explored in her internship at Zolidar
In Logistics Viewpoints, Robert Reavis explain how traditional M&A and ESOPs are reshaping the manufacturing and supply chain industry
ButcherJoseph & Co hired Thomas Dudley, cofounder of EO Certified, as its Director in their ESOP Advisory Practice. Congrats Thomas!

Two resources to check out: The ICA Group’s YouTube channel has workshops, how-tos, and firsthand insight from co-op leaders and developers
The Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center’s blog has the latest on employee ownership, succession planning, and cooperative success stories across Colorado

Graeme Nuttall OBE and David Alcock discuss embedding co-operation in EOT models
In the UK, the employee ownership platform Valloop appoints Dr Margaret Casely-Hayford CBE as ambassador
We just learned about 100% for Purpose Club, led by Newman's Own Foundation, and we’ll update you as we learn more!
Purpose Economy held its first steward-ownership event in the UK (h/t Jessica J.). Check out the program and speaker list here and their recently published explainer video on steward-ownership here
Zolidar’s latest podcast episode, Nature Has a Seat: Biohabitats' Evolution Into a Purpose Trust features CEO Keith Bowers

Andrea Steffes-Tuttle
is the newest member of the Colorado Employee Ownership Commission, and she invites business owners and workers interested in employee ownership to connect. Congrats Andrea!
Alex Sheiko introduces Zolidar's exit planning tool Day Zero Guide, an assessment that functions as our entry point for business owners who want to explore if an exit makes sense for their business
Rick Wilson from Waging Nonviolence answers: Why we need a solidarity economy now
Inspired by Patricia Kelso, Corey Rosen writes AI, Employee Ownership, and the Future of Inclusive Capitalism
90% of UK business professionals support Doughnut Economics, but most wrongly believe they're in the minority. This pluralistic ignorance, Kate Raworth argues, is a barrier to post-growth business transformation
The Main Street Journal reflects on today’s climate of low expectations, in which moderately wealth-distributing initiatives like KKR’s employee ownership deals are seen as wins, though critics argue workers deserve more
Jon Stewart asks “is there a system where you can protect private property and individual rights but still create an engine of progress?” (h/t Matthew E)
- Yes! There are two, in fact, that chart a middle way between capitalism and socialism: (1) Rawls’s property-owning democracy and (2) the Catholic social doctrine of distributism. Who’s going to tell him?

Mary Ann Beyster announces the 2025 award recipients of the Employee Participation and Financial Ownership Scholarly Research Award
Employee Ownership Australia and UNSW Business School on how employee share schemes impact employee attitudes and behaviour. If your company offers an ESS to a significant portion of employees, don’t miss out!
Ownership, Equity, Democracy and Impact: Exploring the Implications of Employee Ownership by the Academy of Management presents the mechanisms and outcomes of organizational democracy and employee ownership

Last week, Ownership Capital Lab hosted a conversation with three catalytic, place-based funds advancing employee ownership; catch the replay here
Pete Davis of the Democracy Policy Network and Elizabeth Gish discuss the release of a new policy kit on financing shared ownership, and how governments can support cooperatives and employee-owned businesses, and other inclusive ownership models
Bernie Sanders talked employee ownership (briefly) last month with podcaster Joe Rogan (h/t ESCA)

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