Black Employee Ownership: A Pathway to Wealth Building and Economic Opportunity

Explore research from Project Equity, Morehouse College, and the University of California, Riverside that examines how employee ownership can serve as a powerful strategy to close the racial wealth gap.

Key Takeaways

• A Proven Wealth Builder: Broad-based employee ownership gives workers a stake in businesses while offering competitive wages, robust benefits, and strong retirement security.

• Overcoming Systemic Barriers: Black entrepreneurs face entrenched obstacles like discriminatory lending practices and restricted capital. Employee ownership helps democratize access to the benefits of ownership without forcing workers to shoulder all the risks alone.

• High Interest, Low Awareness: There is a distinct lack of initial familiarity with employee ownership models among Black business owners and workers. However, once informed, they show significant interest in using these structures for legacy preservation, talent retention, and wealth-building.

• A Roadmap for Policy Action: The report outlines 12 actionable policy recommendations to ensure Black communities can fully benefit from employee ownership. These focus areas include raising awareness, expanding accessible technical assistance, providing equitable capital access, and creating ongoing business incentives.

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