Individual Sessions

Virtual sessions are now open for this year's Employee Ownership Ideas Forum. Grab an all-day pass to take part in all discussions on our agenda, or sign up for select individual sessions on Zoom below. 

Note: All programming is included with an all-day pass; you do not need to register for individual sessions.

Day One — April 9, 2025

12:00 p.m. ET — Fireside Chat: The Ownership Advantage

Dion Houtchins, Houtchens Industries, CEO and Chairman

Leslie Kass, CEO, Lewis Tree Service

Mary Josephs (moderator), Verit Advisors

1:10 p.m. ET — Securing the Future of America’s Critical Industries

Mike Garvey, Former CEO, M-7 Technologies 

Greg Graves, Former CEO and President, Burns & McDonnell 

Chris Griswold, Policy Director, American Compass 

Fidan Kurtulus, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst 

Jack Moriarty, Executive Director, Lafayette Square Institute

2:10 p.m. ET — Owning It: Experiences from the Front Lines of Employee Ownership

Ashley Bell, Inventory Coordinator, A Few Cool Hardware Stores 

Adrian Flores, Project Manager, Accent Landscape Contractors 

Sarah St. Onge, Inside Sales Engineer, Admix 

Juan Carlos Lopez, Executive Associate, Cooperative Home Care Associates

Tim Garbinsky (moderator), Communications Director, National Center for Employee Ownership

3:35 p.m. ET — The Ownership Agenda: Views from the Hill

Cassandra Brzezinksi, Policy Adviser, Office of US Senator Chris Van Hollen

Greg Facchiano, Vice President of Government Relations and Public Affairs, The ESOP Association 

Richard Phillips, Pensions and Tax Policy Director, US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions

Ike Brannon (moderator), President, Capitol Policy Analytics, Senior Fellow at the Jack Kemp Foundation

Day Two — April 10, 2025

9:15 a.m. ET — Five Big Ideas for Employee Ownership

Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Professor of Community Justice and Social Economic Development, Department of Africana Studies, John Jay College, City University of New York 

Tammy Miller, 39th Lieutenant Governor, State of North Dakota 

Phil Reeves, Founding Partner, Apis and Heritage 

Jesse Walker, Book Editor, Reason Magazine 

Leslie Wilson, Dean, Wilson College of Business, University of Northern Iowa

11:30 a.m. ET — The Future of the American Worker

Xavier De Souza Briggs, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institute 

Chris Griswold, Policy Director, American Compass 

Adria Powell, President and CEO, Cooperative Home Care Associates 

Michael Quarrey, Vice President Corporate Development, Web Industries

Emma Goldberg (moderator), Reporter, The New York Times

Christos Makridis (closing remarks), Associate Professor, Arizona State University

1:35 p.m. ET — Bridging the Gap: Institutional Investment and Employee Ownership

Ted Margarit, Managing Partner, Paralign Capital Partners 

Catherine Toner, Managing Director of Impact Investing, Gary Community Ventures 

Lindsey Zizumbo, Executive Director, Sorenson Impact Foundation  

Alison Lingane (moderator), Founder, Ownership Capital Labs

2:45 p.m. ET — Strengthening Small Business through Employee Ownership

Kevin Clegg, CEO, Clegg Auto 

Rachel Hockenberger, CEO and Director, Parma Holding Companies

Sean-Tamba Matthew, Shareholder, SES ESOP Strategies

Anne-Claire Broughton (moderator), Founder and Board Vice Chair, North Carolina Employee Ownership Center 

Loren Rodgers (closing remarks), Executive Director, NCEO

3:45 p.m. ET — Industry Spotlight: Health Care

Katrina Kazda, Vice President of Home Care Innovations, The ICA Group

Terry Leahy, CEO, MyPath Companies 

Terrell Cannon, Director of Training and Workforce Development, Home Care Associates

Adria Scharf (moderator), Associate Director, Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing