Emily Thomas

Employee Ownership Needs Institutional-Grade Structures to Attract Scaled Capital

A panel at the Aspen Institute’s 2026 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum argues that employee ownership is beginning to attract institutional interest, but still lacks the market infrastructure allocators need before committing capital at scale. Regina Carls of JPMorganChase, Chavon Sutton of Cambridge Associates, Jim Sorenson of the Sorenson Impact Foundation, and Emily Thomas of Morgan Stanley frame the opportunity as a financeable ownership-transition market — not simply a values-based cause. Their central case is that growth will depend on clearer structures, stronger managers, performance evidence, and regulatory confidence rather than broader enthusiasm alone.