Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.
Working in partnership with selected CDFIs, Shared Success aims to improve job quality at small businesses while helping to drive business success.
Low wages, limited benefits, unpredictable schedules, limited training and advancement opportunities, unsafe working conditions, and more — these are the issues that lead millions of US workers to report not having a good job. Poor job quality isn’t just bad for workers; it’s also a challenge for businesses, particularly small businesses, who struggle to find and retain the employees they need. Addressing job quality can be a win-win, improving workers’ livelihoods and strengthening businesses, but most business owners are encouraged to manage labor as a cost rather than an investment in business success. And small business owners, while often eager to be good employers in their communities, often need information, encouragement, and support to identify and implement the job quality improvements that their employees will value and that will, in turn, strengthen their business.
Recognizing this context, in 2022, the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program (EOP) launched the Shared Success project, funded by the Gates Foundation. The project supports 11 community development financial institutions (CDFIs) across the country to integrate job quality support into their small business services with the goal of improving job quality for small business employees and building business resilience. Three years later, EOP has seen how grantees have used innovative approaches to recruit, advise, and incentivize small businesses to improve job quality.
With an investment from the Gates Foundation, Shared Success builds on EOP’s foundational work on defining and advancing job quality. It also leverages our longstanding commitment to small business success, which reframes this concept to include, and be facilitated by, improved job quality and economic dignity for workers.
Shared Success is demonstrating — in the real world, in real time — how improvements in job quality can support the needs of employees while helping small businesses improve performance and achieve their goals.
This webinar, which EOP hosted on June 26, 2025, features highlights from the guide, as well as insights from CDFI leaders about their approaches to building job quality advising into their work. It features opening remarks from the Aspen Institute’s Maureen Conway and Bryn Morgan, followed by a panel discussion with Amanda Blondeau (Northern Initiatives), Cynthia Murphy (Coastal Enterprises, Inc.), and Delphine Ntegeye (African Development Center).
How Good Jobs Support Small Businesses Success. For highlights from this discussion, subscribe to EOP’s YouTube channel. Or subscribe to our podcast to listen on the go.
Driving Innovation in Small Business Lending Examples of How Small Business and CDFIs are Working Together to Advance Job Quality. For highlights from this discussion, subscribe to EOP’s YouTube channel. Or subscribe to our podcast to listen on the go.
One third of businesses reported adding employee benefits since baseline. The main employee benefits offered at midline are PTO (69%), paid sick leave (56%), health insurance (54%), and professional development opportunities (50%). These have both financial and opportunity costs to firms.
