The architectures of shared ownership, shared governance, and shared upside
Why this gathering
The ownership economy is bigger than startup equity and founder exits. It now spans mission-preserving transitions, employee ownership, onchain governance, community energy, land stewardship, policy innovation, community-controlled finance, and ownership-lens investing across multiple asset classes.
Agenda at a glance
Agenda at a glance
Registration, coffee, and curated networking
Welcome and Lessons from ECOSYSTEM Summit – How the World is Approaching Ownership
All attendees · Opening
A concise frame for the day and a broader definition of the ownership economy.
Stability, control and upside: A debate on corporate forms, ownership and the future of wealth creation
Ownership has long separated those who earn wages from those who build lasting wealth. This panel explores whether employee ownership, cooperatives, crypto networks, and platform models can give workers, users, and communities a real stake in the value they create.
Anna-Lisa MillerExecutive Director, Ownership Works
Martin SmithCo-Founder CommonShare, Ownership Economy
Jahed MomandCo-Founder, Cerulean Ventures, Ownership Economy
Jason WienerFounder and Principal at Jason Wiener|p.c.The Failed Dream: Why American Manufacturing Fell Behind
America’s manufacturing debate often focuses on reshoring, labor costs, tariffs, and subsidies. But Europe’s Manufacturing 4.0 efforts point to a deeper question: who controls the data, standards, and digital infrastructure that make modern industry competitive?
From EU data spaces to Catena-X in automotive and Manufacturing-X in Germany, Europe is experimenting with federated systems that let companies share data securely without giving up control. This panel asks whether America’s manufacturing gap is really an infrastructure gap — and whether trusted digital rails could help manufacturers, suppliers, workers, and SMEs compete in the next industrial era.
John DyckClean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII)Morning networking break
All attendees
A focused break for cross-room conversations, investor sidebars, and curated introductions.
Frontiers in Ownership Investing: Building Human Agency in the Age of AI
As AI reshapes work, the central question for investors is not whether automation will create value, but who will own the gains. This panel explores how pro-worker AI, employee ownership, data rights, cooperative platforms, and shared-upside models can turn workers from displaced labor into active participants in productivity, governance, and wealth creation.
Delilah RothenbergModeratorWorkshop in Brief: Designing the Worker-Owned Future
Workshop in Brief: Tokens Are Not Ownership
Yev MuchnikOf Counsel, Launch LegalWho owns the energy transition?
Community, tribal, ratepayer, and local-institution ownership of clean energy and grid infrastructure.
Michelle MooreCEO of Groundswell
Juan DumasCo-Founder and Partner, MELINQUINAThe Ownership Economy Policy Roadmap
Procurement, tax, public finance, technical assistance, and institutions that move ownership into the mainstream.
Building Local Ecosystems for Employee Ownership
This panel explores how place-based leaders are embedding employee ownership into local economic development, workforce, funding, and community systems. Drawing on work in Colorado, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia, practitioners will share how durable local ecosystems can make employee ownership a familiar, scalable strategy for building a more resilient and equitable economy.
Matthew EppersonLocal Outreach Coordinator, Georgia Center for Employee Ownership and Board Member at Shared Capital Cooperative
Andrea Steffes-TuttleDirector of Well Economy Lab and Commissioner at the State of Colorado EO Commission
Rachel MerfalenExecutive Director, Tennessee Center for Employee Ownership and Job Quality Fellow, The Aspen Institute
Illa BurbankExecutive Director, North Carolina Employee Ownership CenterHosted lunch tables
All attendees
Curated table themes across founder transitions, finance, policy, energy, land, and housing.
Ownership and Investment Innovation as a Solve for Market Failure
Austin RobeyFounder, Subvert
Brian VoChief Investment Officer, Connect Humanity
Rebecca KernDirector of Capital and Growth, Catch TogetherOnchain coordination, programmable ownership, and internet-native governance
Legal, technical, and operating architectures for public goods, DAOs, protocols, and internet-native institutions.
John GarryGeneral Partner, Garry Elevator
Kevin OwockiCo-Founder GitcoinJahed MomandGeneral Partner, Cerulean VenturesOwning the Inputs to Intelligence
Owning the Inputs to Intelligence explores how the data that trains, audits, and improves AI systems can be governed by the people, communities, and institutions that generate it. The conversation will examine new models for data rights, privacy-preserving computation, standards, and shared value creation in an AI economy built on collective inputs.
Carl FredlundStrategy Director, Mobility Data
Kevin McDonoughHead of Engineering, OpenMined
Jan EeckhoutAuthor, The Profit ParadoxAfternoon networking break
All attendees
Investor follow-up, partnership conversations, policy sidebars, and curated introductions.
Industrial democracy at scale
How employee-owned and worker-governed firms scale governance, succession, financing, and operations.
Housing commons, community ownership, and land stewardship
Community land trusts, resident ownership, cooperative real estate, and anti-speculative housing models.
Sheila FosterProfessor, Columbia Law School
Adriana Abizadeh-BarbourExecutive Director, Kensington Corridor TrustWhat an ownership stack needs next
All attendees
What should leave the room as an introduction, policy ask, diligence process, follow-up, or pilot.
Closing reception and hosted introductions
All attendees
High-signal networking and scheduled follow-up across the full room.
Who should be in the room
This is a curated room for people building, funding, regulating, or researching new ownership models in North America.
- Founders and operators exploring mission-preserving exits or new governance models
- Allocators, family offices, asset managers, and catalytic capital providers
- Policymakers, public-sector leaders, and ecosystem builders
- Technologists working on shared rails, public goods, and programmable coordination
- Practitioners in housing, energy, health, finance, and worker ownership