Day 1 – April 9, 2025

8:00 -10:00 — Networking Breakfast 

Freer Room, Royal Sonesta on Dupont Circle, 2121 P St NW, Washington DC

11:30 — Welcome — 100 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room SD-G11, Washington, DC

• Maureen Conway, Vice President at the Aspen Institute
• Joseph Blasi Director of the  Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing.

11:40 — Featured speaker

• Jim Bonham, CEO and President, The ESOP Association

11:50 — Featured Speaker

• Alex Brill, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute 

 12:00 — Panel — The Ownership Advantage

• Dion Houchins, Houchens Industries, CEO and Chairman
• Leslie Kass, CEO, Lewis Tree Service
• Moderator: Mary Josephs, Founder and CEO, Verit Advisors, Contributor at Forbes Magazine

Learn more about this panel and register 

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12.40 Lunch

1.10 — Panel — Securing The Future of America’s Critical Industries

• Mike Garvey, Former CEO, M-7 Technologies 
• Greg Graves, Former CEO and President, Burns & McDonnell 
• Chris Griswold, Policy Director, American Compass 
• Fidan Kurtulus, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Jack Moriarty, Executive Director, Lafayette Square Institute

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2:00 — Remarks

• The Honorable Bill Cassidy, US Senator from the State of  Louisiana

2:05 — Remarks

• The Honorable Lori Trahan, US Congresswoman, Massachusetts, District 3

2:10 — Panel — Owning It: Experiences from the Front Lines of Employee Ownership

• Ashley Bell, Inventory Coordinator, A Few Cool Hardware Stores 
• Adrian Flores, Project Manager, Accent Landscape Contractors 
• Sarah St. Onge, Inside Sales Engineer, Admix 
• Juan Carlos Lopez, Executive Associate, Cooperative Home Care Associates
• Moderator: Tim Garbinsky, Communications Director, National Center for Employee Ownership

Learn more about this Panel and register

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3:05 Break

3:15 — Featured Speaker 

• Danny Massey, Director of Policy and Communications, Expanding ESOPs

3:35 — Panel — The Ownership Agenda: Views From the Hill

• Richard Phillips, Pensions and Tax Policy Director, US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
• Moderator: Ike Brannon, President, Capitol Policy Analytics, Senior Fellow at the Jack Kemp Foundation

Learn more about this Panel and register

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4:15 — Featured Speaker

• Tammy Miller, Former Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota, Former CEO of Border States

4:25 — Featured Speaker

• Julian McKinley, Co-Executive Director, Democracy at Work Institute

4:45 — Closing Remarks

• Sarah Keh, Vice President of Inclusive Growth, Prudential Financial

5:00 End

5.15 — Reception

• Rayburn Cafe, Rayburn House Office Building , 45 Independence Ave SW

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Day 2 – April 10, 2025

9:00 – Welcome — The Aspen Institute, Washington DC

9:05 — Opening Remarks

• Dan Porterfield, President of the Aspen Institute

9.15 — Five Big Ideas for Employee Ownership

• Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Professor of Community Justice and Social Economic Development, Department of Africana Studies, John Jay College, City University of New York 
• Tammy Miller, Former Lieutenant Governor, State of North Dakota
• Phil Reeves, Founding Partner, Apis and Heritage
• Jesse Walker, Book Editor, Reason Magazine
• Leslie Wilson, Dean, Wilson College of Business, University of Northern Iowa

Learn more about this Panel and register

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10:15 — Attendee Breakout Conversations

11:15 – Break

11.30 — The Future of the American Worker

• Xavier de Souza Briggs, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institute 
• Chris Griswold, Policy Director, American Compass 
• Adria Powell, President and CEO, Cooperative Home Care Associates 
• Michael Quarrey, Vice President Corporate Development, Web Industries
• Moderator: Emma Goldberg, Reporter, The New York Times 
• Closing Reflections: Christos Makridis, Associate Professor, Arizona State University; Previously Served on the White House Council of Economic Advisers

Learn more about this Panel and register

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12:30 – Lunch

1:30 — Remarks

• Margot Brandenburg, Senior Program Officer – Mission Investments, Ford Foundation

1:35 Bridging the Gap: Institutional Investment and Employee Ownership 

• Ted Margarit, Managing Partner, Paralign Capital Partners 
• Keith Butcher, Founder and Partner, Mosaic Capital
• Catherine Toner, Managing Director of Impact Investing, Gary Community Ventures 
• Lindsey Zizumbo, Executive Director, Sorenson Impact Foundation  
• Moderator: Alison Lingane, Founder, Ownership Capital Labs

Learn more about this Panel and register  

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2:30 – Break

2:45 Strengthening Small Business Through Employee Ownership

• Kevin Clegg, CEO, Clegg Auto 
• Rachel Hockenberger, CEO and Director, Parma Holding Companies
• Sean-Tamba Matthew, Shareholder, SES ESOP Strategies
• Moderator: Anne-Claire Broughton, Founder and Board Vice Chair, North Carolina Employee Ownership Center
• Closing Remarks: Loren Rodgers, Executive Director, NCEO

Learn more about this panel and register

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3:45 Industry Spotlight: Healthcare

• Terrell Cannon, Director of Training and Workforce Development, Home Care Associates
• Katrina Kazda, Vice President of Home Care Innovations, The ICA Group
• Terry Leahy, CEO, MyPath Companies
• Moderator: Adria Scharf, Associate Director, Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing

Learn more about this Panel and register 

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4:30 — Featured Speaker 

• Stephanie Silverman, President and CEO, Employee Owned S Corporations of America

4:40 — Closing Remarks

• Gwyneth Galbraith, Vice President of Global Small Business, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
  

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  Thank you to our colleagues at the Ford Foundation, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Prudential Financial for their generous support of the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum. Rutgers University also appreciates the support of the Sorenson Impact Foundation for its support of this convening and other events in 2025.

  For more information about this event, email: eop.program@aspeninstitute.org

  As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Aspen Institute is nonpartisan and does not endorse, support, or oppose political candidates or parties. To the extent elected officials are in attendance, they are attending and speaking in their official capacity and not as a political candidate. Further, the views and opinions of our guests and speakers do not necessarily reflect those of the Aspen Institute.

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