Driven by the value of social enterprises and the vision of a generative economy, Evan Edwards, our first CEO, brings two decades experience growing businesses and nonprofits while scaling their impact across sectors. Project Equity’s founders, Hilary Abell and Alison Lingane, have nearly 60 combined years of hands-on leadership experience in mission-driven companies and traditional and emerging styles of employee ownership. Together they have partnered with some of the smartest minds in the industry and built a team that is propelling employee ownership to the forefront of business succession solutions.
Employee ownership: the preferred business model, now and in the future
Employee ownership is on a trajectory to scale. Baby boomers who own half of small businesses with payrolls are seeking exits. Prime age business owners are seeking strategies to recruit and retain workers. Demand for quality jobs among workers has never been higher—the reinvigorated labor movement is a testament to this fact.
Employee ownership not only helps business owners sell their business, it also helps employees and local economies. And the more communities build regional resilience through employee ownership, the stronger our national economy becomes.
When employees become owners, they can unlock opportunities to acquire assets and increase their income. In one study, employee-owners earned 33% more and had a household net worth nearly twice as high as their non-employee-owner peers. These increases can mean better outcomes day-to-day and long-term gains like saving to buy a home and building retirement. Employee ownership is a powerful tool to help working people and families from Black and Brown communities build economic security for generations to come.
