Economic Opportunities Program Newsletter, June 2021
At the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program, and for our many colleagues and partners, the ongoing and intertwined health, economic, and racial justice crises bring new urgency to our work to improve access to quality jobs, options to participate in business ownership, and the freedom to pursue economic opportunity. Below we share our monthly newsletter with highlights of recent work. As always, we welcome your feedback, thoughts, and partnership in advancing inclusive opportunity and an economy in which we all can thrive. Click here to subscribe.
Delivering Patient Care and Quality Jobs
Improving job quality not only transforms workers’ lives, but it also benefits businesses’ performance and bottom lines. Highlighted in this brief by Mark Popovich and Yoorie Chang is Sunrise Treatment Center, a leader in the addiction treatment sector that provides stable, sustainable jobs. Founder Dr. Jeffrey Bill, Chief Operatin
Amanda Cage
Chief Program Officer, Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, Chicago, IL
Amanda Cage is the Chief Program Officer at the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership (The Partnership) where she oversees programs and initiatives for the country’s second largest workforce system, including responsibility for $60 million dollars of public and private funding and a network of over 50 agencies. Previously, she served as the organization’s Director of Strategic Initiatives and Policy where she used labor market information to set the strategic direction for the region’s workforce system and promoted innovative practices within the field. Prior to The Partnership, Amanda served as Director of Human Capital Strategy for the Chicago Workforce Investment Council where she led a city-wide effort to coordinate human capital initiatives designed to increase Chicago’s competitiveness in an information-based global economy. This effort resulted in the creation of Complete the Degree Chica
Economic Opportunities Program Newsletter, April 2021
At the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program, and for our many colleagues and partners, the ongoing and intertwined health, economic, and racial justice crises bring new urgency to our work to improve access to quality jobs, options to participate in business ownership, and the freedom to pursue economic opportunity. Below we share our monthly newsletter with highlights of recent work. As always, we welcome your feedback, thoughts, and partnership in advancing inclusive opportunity and an economy in which we all can thrive. Click here to subscribe.
Race and Gender Wealth Equity and the Role of Employee Share Ownership
Tomás E. Durán
President, Concerned Capital, Los Angeles, CA
Tomás Durán is the President of Concerned Capital, Inc. (CC), a social benefit corporation based in Los Angeles, CA. His team developed the Transfer of Ownership (TOO) Program, which recycles manufacturing companies by transferring ownership from retiring owners to employees.
He is also the Administrator for Special Projects at the USC Center for Economic Development. At USC he works with manufacturers in the defense supply chain as part of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership for Southern California.
Prior to creating CC, Tomás worked as a Program Manager for the Whittier Redevelopment Agency and Vice President of Real Estate for Genesis LA Economic Growth Corp. Plaza La Alameda, a South LA retail center that created hundreds of jobs, was a project he provided gap financing for.