The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program — Events and Interviews

The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy. This podcast features audio from our events, webinars, interviews, and other conversations. Learn more at aspeninstitute.org/eop

The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program — Events and Interviews is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 256 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program — Events and Interviews, a business show with 256 episodes published.

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  The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program — Events and Interviews

  Disposable Workers: A Book Talk with MIT Sloan Professor Paul Osterman

  Sep 15, 20261 hour

  This event took place on Wednesday, September 9, 2026

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  The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program — Events and Interviews

  How Tax Policy Can Help Employers Expand Access to Learning

  Sep 8, 202637 min

  Many employers want to help workers build new skills, advance into better jobs, and meet evolving business needs, but the systems designed to support employer-provided education benefits can be difficult to navigate. Longstanding tax policies like Section 127 and Section 132 offer employers important tools for expanding access to education and training, yet outdated limits and administrative confusion can prevent these benefits from reaching the workers who could use them most. In this interview, Chelsea Miller of Upskill America speaks with Nick Greif of InStride about how employers can design education benefits that are more accessible, strategic, and aligned with workforce goals. Their conversation covers changes coming to Section 127 in 2027, how employers can think about related tax policies, common misconceptions about education benefit programs, and practical ways to build programs that support both business needs and workers’ economic mobility.

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  The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program — Events and Interviews

  Metrics that Matter: Improving Financial Analysis of CDFI Small Business Lenders

  Sep 2, 20261 hour

  CDFI boards, leadership teams, investors, and regulators have long relied on a familiar set of financial metrics to assess organizational performance. While measures such as delinquency, loan loss rates, self-sufficiency, and net asset ratios remain important, they often provide an incomplete picture of how effectively a CDFI small business lender is deploying capital, managing risk, serving its target market, and positioning itself for long-term sustainability. In the present moment, navigating the most effective strategies and solutions is more important than ever. This session — hosted by the the Aspen Institute’s Business Ownership Initiative on August 26, 2026 — explores an emerging framework that seeks to move beyond compliance-oriented reporting toward a more integrated view of organizational performance. Participants examine how decisions related to risk, pricing, capitalization, deployment, and operating costs influence both mission outcomes and financial strength and discuss what metrics may better support real-time decision-making for leadership teams, boards, funders, and investors. Our speakers include BOI Senior Director Joyce Klein and Aspen Institute Senior Fellow Brett Simmons, principal at Blue Aster Advising. For more information about this event, including a transcript, speaker bios, and additional resources, visit our website . For highlights from this discussion, subscribe to our YouTube channel . Or subscribe to our podcast to listen on the go.

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  The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program — Events and Interviews

  The Impact of Foundational Skills on Workforce Success

  Aug 25, 202659 min

  Foundational skills — including literacy, math, digital fluency, and English language proficiency — are critical elements for a thriving workforce. Yet, gaps in these essential skills stall employee growth and corporate goals alike. This conversation — hosted by UpSkill America and Lumina Foundation on August 18, 2026 — offers an exclusive look into how innovative employers are turning this challenge into an opportunity. Drawing on early insights from our forthcoming national landscape analysis, this conversation explores the practical impact of foundational skill gaps and highlights the cutting-edge solutions leading companies are deploying to bridge them. Our speakers include Della Adams (Tyson Foods), Quentin Bradley (Ochsner Health), Joe Dunlap (CJK Group), Georgia Reagan (Lumina Foundation), and moderator Chelsea Miller (UpSkill America). For more information about this event, including a transcript, speaker bios, and additional resources, visit our website . For highlights from this discussion, subscribe to our YouTube channel . Or subscribe to our podcast to listen on the go.

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  The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program — Events and Interviews

  The Necessity of Employee-Centered Strategies: A Book Talk with Steve Dawson and Jerry Rubin

  Aug 3, 202659 min

  We are living through a moment of profound uncertainty about the future of work. Rapid advances in artificial intelligence are raising urgent questions about which jobs will survive, which will be transformed, and which will disappear entirely. Yet amid all the speculation, one thing is already clear: millions of Americans are working jobs that do not pay enough, do not offer stability, and do not provide a real path forward. And businesses — in health care, child care, hospitality, food service and other large employment sectors — seek to hire even more people into such jobs. In their new book, “ Help Wanted: How To Find and Keep Talent in a Forever-Tight Labor Market ,” authors Steve Dawson and Jerry Rubin argue that demographic realities, including an aging population, slowing growth, and declining workforce participation, mean the competition for workers is structural and long-term, not a temporary blip. Rather than treating workers as a cost to be minimized, they argue that investing in people is now a competitive necessity, and they introduce readers to business leaders who are redesigning jobs, recruiting differently, and partnering with workforce organizations to attract and retain the talent their businesses depend on. This conversation — hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program on July 29, 2026 — goes beyond the employer-competitiveness frame to ask harder questions: How can we redesign work to maximize the value of all workers? How can businesses organize and advocate on behalf of their workforces? What barriers keep businesses from changing practice? And what role can policy, philanthropy, and workforce intermediaries play in redesigning work at scale? Our speakers include Dawson, Rubin, and moderator Maureen Conway, a vice president at the Aspen Institute and executive director of the Economic Opportunities Program. For more information about this event, including a transcript, speaker bios, and additional resources, visit our website . This event is part of our Opportunity in America series. For highlights from this discussion, subscribe to our YouTube channel . Or subscribe to our podcast to listen on the go.

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