Writing in The Wall Street Journal this week, Miriam Gottfried reports on the creation of Ownership Works by a group of 19 large private equity firms, including Apollo, Ares, KKR, Leonard Green & Partners, Silver Lake, TPG, and Warburg Pincus. 

A coalition of more than 60 groups also including banks, pension funds, and others, the organization has adopted a mission of widely promoting employee stock ownership programs, and a specific goal of creating at least $20 billion in wealth for low-and-middle-income workers over the next decade. Anna-Lisa Miller, executive director of the effort, describes it as recognizing that employees at all levels and in all roles are “true value-creators”.

Founded by KKR’s Pete Stavros, non-profit Ownership Works will focus on providing companies with resources to help them adopt employee-ownership programs, funding academic research, and potentially pushing for new government incentives. Stavros states that, “Giving ownership to lower-level employees better aligns their interests with those of management and shareholders, makes them more engaged, and creates a stronger culture.”

We would concur, and we also agree with Ms Gottfried, who said in a recent interview on the subject, that, “…it isn’t just a charity endeavor. This isn’t just about doing good. There’s actually evidence that this helps companies perform better.”

Yes, Ownership does indeed Work–for everyone.