Opportunity in America - Events by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program

For almost twenty years, the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program has convened local and national academies that bring together senior leaders from across the workforce ecosystem to learn together about increasing economic opportunity for all.

In this interview, we hear from Stephen Tucker, the founding president and CEO of the Northland Workforce Training Center in Buffalo, New York. Tucker is an alum of EOP's Sector Skills Academy and has served as a valued guest faculty member for many local Workforce Leadership Academies across the country.

Speaking with Senior Fellows Dee Wallace and Sheila Maguire, Tucker describes how he not only walks the talk as a leader but gives back to others using lessons learned as a program participant, job developer, economic developer, and champion for community, industry, and the workforce field.

For key lessons and takeaways from this discussion, read the corresponding blog post on our website: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/workforce-leadership-profile-strengthening-communities-through-workforce-development-with-stephen-tucker/

Or subscribe to our YouTube channel and watch the whole discussion there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JlUIxJAgCc

Farm workers play an essential role in feeding our nation’s families. Despite their key role in our food system, these workers are largely underpaid, receive little time off, and have little recourse when subjected to dangerous working conditions. Half of the households in this majority-Latino workforce of more than two million earn less than $30,000 a year – and many struggle to put food on their own tables. Immigrant workers also face the risk of having their immigration status exploited, putting their safety and well-being in danger. Some become victims of forced slavery and human trafficking.

Better jobs for farm workers are possible and within reach. Multiple states have led the way in legislating better pay and protections, including the right to organize, a right these essential workers have long been excluded from. New high-road business models are showing ways workers and owners can succeed together, and new technologies are being developed to make farm work safer. But poor pay, dangerous working conditions, and inadequate labor and immigration laws persist for the vast majority of farm workers.

In this conversation — hosted in partnership with the Aspen Institute’s Food & Society Program — a panel of experts discuss the long-standing challenges in this essential sector and how to build good jobs for farm workers. Our speakers include:


Gerardo Reyes Chavez, Coalition of Immokalee Workers
Daniel Costa, Economic Policy Institute
L. Lloys Frates, Ph.D, Frutura
Mireya Loza, Georgetown University
Ximena Bustillo, NPR

For video, photos, transcript, and additional resources from this event, visit our website: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/events/job-quality-in-the-fields-improving-farm-work-in-the-us/

Join us March 19 on Zoom for our next event, “Workers On the Line: Improving Jobs in Meat and Poultry Processing.” Click here to RSVP: https://aspeninstitute.zoom.us/webinar/register/2517096789931/WN_hJRY_m01TIOL-rm96tce-w

As the world continues to confront inhumane levels of poverty, widening inequality, and environmental degradation, a growing number of individuals, including academics, business owners, and policy entrepreneurs, are calling for a new moral economy. These leaders are rejecting the conventional economic myths that free markets are more efficient and that enormous inequalities are unavoidable; instead, they’re embracing ethical and socially responsible economic models that prioritize moral action and accountability.

In his new book, “The Alternative: How to Build a Just Economy,” author and academic Nick Romeo explores this paradigm shift in economic thinking, challenging prevailing notions perpetuated by some economists and business leaders. He shares compelling stories of these new innovative approaches, including businesses organized as purpose trusts, venture capital funds addressing wealth inequality and climate change, Oslo’s successful climate budgeting program, Portugal’s democratic budget decisions, worker-owned cooperatives fostering innovation, and public-sector initiatives providing protections for gig workers. “The Alternative” presents a vision of economies that are more equal, just, and livable, showcasing real-world examples of success. Ultimately, it challenges the prevailing narrative and offers a glimpse into a viable alternative economic system.

In this conversation — which took place on January 24, 2024 — we hear Nick Romeo and moderator Maureen Conway (Vice President, The Aspen Institute; Executive Director, Economic Opportunities Program) discuss his new book and invite guests to imagine what a more humane economy could be.

For more information about this event — including video, audio, photos, speaker bios, and additional resources — visit: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/events/the-alternative-how-to-build-a-just-economy-a-book-talk-with-nick-romeo/

To purchase “The Alternative: How to Build a Just Economy,” visit: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/nick-romeo/the-alternative/9781541701618/

Workplace benefits can provide workers with economic stability in their lives, opportunities for personal and professional growth, and the chance to build wealth in the long term. Yet the field of benefits offered is incredibly diverse. Deep inequalities in access exist, administration tends to be complex for both employers and workers, and there is little shared knowledge about what benefits are most important for workers’ well-being.

In this conversation, hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program, we begin to build that shared knowledge through an introduction to the promise and potential of workplace benefits to improve job quality. We share findings from recent research conducted by the Future of Work Initiative highlighting challenges faced by workers today. And we hear from an expert panel about the state of benefits today, current innovative approaches to improve access and effectiveness, and ideas about how to build on these in the future.

Our speakers include Betsy Biemann (Coastal Enterprises), Tonya Hallett (Amazon), Dr. Angie Kim (Center for Cultural Innovation), Emily Martin (National Women’s Law Center), and moderator Shelly Steward (The Aspen Institute).

This event took place on January 9, 2024. For more information — including video, audio, photos, transcript, speaker bios, and additional resources — visit: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/events/how-benefits-make-jobs-better/

To read our complementary report, “Benefits Beyond Measure: The Role of Workplace Benefits in Improving Job Quality,” visit: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/publications/benefits-beyond-measure-the-role-of-workplace-benefits-in-improving-job-quality/

Our next event, “The Alternative: How to Build a Just Economy – A Book Talk with Nick Romeo,” will take place at our Washington DC office on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. EST. Learn more and RSVP: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/events/the-alternative-how-to-build-a-just-economy-a-book-talk-with-nick-romeo/

Hear from a new wave of business leaders who understand the need to reimagine their relationship with organized workers and from the leader of the biggest federation of unions, who is ready to innovate and work together with business to achieve shared prosperity.

American workers are reevaluating their working conditions and rallying for change, driving a surge in worker organizing that affects businesses across sectors and regions. While many business leaders are unprepared for and resistant to unionization and other forms of worker empowerment, the case for fostering a positive relationship with organized workers is stronger than ever. At a time of historically high public approval of unions and newly emergent public expectations about the nature of work and the responsibilities of corporations, informed by the cataclysm of the pandemic and ongoing inflation, new voices in business are starting to call for an approach where businesses and workers collaborate to achieve shared prosperity.

The Aspen Business Roundtable on Organized Labor cultivates and organizes these new voices. It provides a space for business leaders to come together to learn, share, and advance strategies in which workers have a meaningful seat at the table when it comes to the terms and conditions of their work.

This December 2023 event, hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program and MIT Sloan’s Institute for Work and Employment Research, is our first public conversation about how business and labor leaders are reframing the narrative about organized labor and worker power, how mutually beneficial labor-management relationships are forged, and how a more constructive labor and business dynamic can support a stronger economy and democracy.

Our speakers include AFL-CIO President Elizabeth Shuler, Roy Bahat (Bloomberg Beta), Jamie Barton (AT&T Services, Inc.), Tom Kochan (MIT Sloan School of Management), Rajesh Nayak (US Department of Labor), Matt Patsky (Trillium), Alyson van Hardenberg (Honeycomb), and moderator Joe Weisenthal (Bloomberg).

For more information about this event — including video, audio, transcript, speaker bios, and additional resources — visit: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/events/reimagining-the-business-labor-playbook-for-the-21st-century/

While the holiday season is a time of joy and celebration for many across the United States, it brings uncertainty and stress for workers facing unpredictable schedules. Workers in the service sector in particular are often on call and can have their schedules changed with very little notice. Research by The Shift Project, for example, shows that in fall 2021, a staggering 64% of workers in the service sector received less than two weeks’ notice of their schedule. Unpredictable and unstable schedules are associated with economic, food, and housing insecurity; various health issues; and, for working parents, adverse effects on childrens’ well-being and education. 

In recent years, some state and local governments — including Seattle, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Jose, and Chicago, and the state of Oregon — have enacted fair workweek laws that provide workers with more stable and predictable scheduling. And some employers have changed their scheduling practices as well, recognizing that unstable schedules can affect business performance and employee turnover. Despite this scattershot progress, however, the status quo of unpredictable scheduling remains largely the same. 

In this discussion — which took place on November 15, 2023 — our expert panel discusses the latest research on the experiences of workers grappling with schedule instability, how new technology is helping businesses adopt worker-friendly scheduling practices, what we are learning from states and cities with fair workweek laws, and other opportunities and strategies for change.

Our speakers include Terrysa Guerra (United for Respect), Silvija Martincevic (Deputy), Daniel Schneider (The Shift Project), Elizabeth Wagoner (New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection), and moderator Shalene Gupta.

For more information about this event — including video, audio, transcript, speaker bios, and additional resources — visit our website: as.pn/unstableschedules