Mixing it Up in the Comments
Weekend Newsletter, Vol. 104 🇺🇸
🎆 Welcome Back 🎇
Howdy! We’re sending this week’s newsletter a day early so you can enjoy some well-deserved downtime—perfect for catching up on what you missed this week. Happy 4th.
🗺️ 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 News
⏪ In Case You Missed It
🙋♀️ One Big Thing
Ownership Capital Lab invites employee ownership advocates to share your input and guide their EO Capital Roadmap by taking their employee ownership survey and/or joining a Roadmap focus group
📰 Top Shelf News
Katie and Brian Boland of Delta Fund argue that the private equity-driven employee ownership practiced by KKR and Ownership Works is “equity-washing.” See how that’s playing out on LinkedIn
The Rutgers Institute and Carta hosted their second Future of Equity: Silicon Valley Employee Ownership Symposium Program in Palo Alto, on equity compensation in tech companies. See the program here and Henri Tran’s LinkedIn highlights here
🌆 Events + Opportunities
The Festival of Cooperatives and the ICA General Assembly begin!
July 3: Meetings, museum tours, delegate experiences
July 4-5: UK Co-op Congress, National Youth Summit, and a city-wide celebration in Rochdale
July 8: NCEO and Praxis host From ESOP to Ownership (virtual, members only)
July 8-11: The 5th Global Research Conference of the International Cooperative Alliance in Montreal
July 9: MICEO hosts Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts for owners looking to keep their business locally rooted, reward their team, and ease the transition (virtual)
July 10: Purpose Foundation & the Joseph Roundtree Foundation launch Steward-Ownership UK in London
🆕 | July 28: The Rutgers Institute hosts Ownership, Equity, Democracy and Impact symposium, featuring research on employee ownership, inequality, and workplace norms by AJ Clomax, Laura Beltran Figueroa, Trevor Young-Hyman, Eric Hoyt, and Ed Carberrry (in Copenhagen)
For a full list of upcoming ownership economy events, see this page.
🔍 Analysis + Opinions
> On employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs)
Nasdaq Exchange posted The Power and Profit of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), highlighting how ESOPs build worker wealth and stronger companies
Gardeners' Supply Co., one of Vermont’s best-known ESOPs, writes about their experience navigating bankruptcy
> On worker cooperatives
Four years after Green Mountain Graphics became a worker-owned cooperative, the team shares how it changed the way they do business
Former Spectrum workers started a Bronx internet co-op, offering free or low-cost Wi-Fi to bridge the digital divide while transforming digital access and workplace justice
International Cooperative Alliance outlines a few achievements from the 2025 International Cooperative Alliance General Assembly
> On purpose trusts + steward ownership
Zolidar’s latest podcast episode, When Buyers Don't Knock: ShopBot's Profitable EOT Exit, features Ted Hall of ShopBot Tools, an employee ownership trust
The Sorenson Impact Institute and the David Eccles School of Business shared the recording of their recent webinar on how innovative investing and expanded ownership opportunities can help address the U.S. wealth gap (H/t Saurabh L.)
See Júlia Martins Rodrigues and Nathan Schneider from Democracy Policy Network’s recent brief on how policymakers can support the financing of shared ownership across the economy
The latest episode of the Next Economy Now podcast features Jason Wiener to dig into the legal, cultural, and financial pathways to more democratic business structures (h/t Ryan H.)
> On the ownership economy
Project Equity’s 2024 Annual Report is out
Democracy Policy Network writes about how states and municipalities can help the establishment and growth of community-led real estate vehicles that create permanent affordability
ADB Institute’s recent publication on inclusive economic development in Asia
David Harlley announces his book, Building The New Economy: Distributive Capitalism, about alternatives to both traditional capitalism and state socialism
Matt Helmer of Aspen EOP reflects on Aspen Ideas Festival, highlighting the power of employee ownership and community courage despite economic challenges
Also see Aspen EOP’s recent publication, Fixing Work: Lessons From Job Quality Practitioners
📚 Academic News
Cindy Perman writes about the recent Worker Ownership Conference held at the Harvard Institute for Business in Global Society (BiGS) in May
On July 28, The Rutgers Institute will host Ownership, Equity, Democracy and Impact symposium, featuring research on employee ownership, inequality, and workplace norms by AJ Clomax, Laura Beltran Figueroa, Trevor Young-Hyman, Eric Hoyt, and Ed Carberrry (in Copenhagen)
See Florian Möslein’s recently posted presentation, European Treaties and Steward Ownership, to the Purpose in Business: Steward Ownership and Enterprise International Conference at University Modena in May
⏪ ICYMI
How Many Firms Are Good Candidates for Employee Ownership? by the Aspen Economic Opportunities Program (April 2025) estimates how many U.S. businesses could successfully transition to employee ownership models
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
Common Trust’s Zoe Schlag highlights Matthew Licina’s summary of Colorado’s HB25-1021 (May 2025)
In the latest episode of In Session, Maureen Conway talks about the unique challenges and opportunities that come from creating large-scale systemic change in our economic and business structures:
I opened your post, immediately saw the delta piece, and couldn't stop myself from entering the debate with a contra post 🤓 https://www.elysian.press/p/no-kkr-is-not-equity-washing
Thanks for making me think first thing in the morning!