Equitable Enterprise: a form of organizing business activities and value creation so that the social and economic benefits of such activities are distributed broadly, not just to investors but to those who contribute to them and the larger communities in which they operate.
IFTF Equitable Enterprise researchers catalyze pathways to more equitable work and wealth for the next generation. The initiative serves as a hub for research, scenario building, public engagement, and policy initiatives to promote the establishment and growth of more equitable enterprises.
Today, we are in the midst of an economic transition reminiscent of the shift from an agrarian to an industrial economy. It is re-shaping the nature of work and jobs, as fewer people are engaged in formal full-time employment at companies that offer good wages and benefits. Instead, the number of “good” jobs has steadily declined, widening economic polarization. Income earned through the labor market has been the primary mechanism for distributing economic resources in our economy. Increasingly, however, work and jobs are failing to provide the economic security promised to American families. Wage stagnation, the disappearance of asset-rich jobs that provide basic health or retirement benefits as well as widely distributed stock ownership, the expansion of low-wage jobs, and the growing polarization of jobs and wages are widening economic inequality.
To address these issues, and with the help of several foundations, IFTF has launched the Equitable Enterprise Initiative, which serves as a hub for research, scenario building, public engagement, and policy innovations aimed at shaping the new curve of work. The Equitable Enterprise Initiative catalyzes new pathways to more equitable work and wealth for the next generation and is a broad-based effort to reverse decades-long policies and practices based on the idea that the only social responsibility of business is to increase shareholder profits.
Projects
Enterprise Reimagined: Insights from Equitable Enterprise Leaders
IFTF Equitable Enterprise Advisors
Equitable Enterprise Initiative
Kenneth Bailey
2018 Future for Good Fellow, Equitable Enterprise Initiative Advisor
IFTF Equitable Enterprise Fellows
Projects
Reworking the Future: Strategies for Building Enterprise in the 21st Century
A collaborative effort to reimagine business and work
EEI Resources
"Transforming the Gig Economy: How Unionized Cooperatives Can Create Wealth for All Workers." By Ra Criscitiello, February 2023.
"Breaking Free from the Culture of Audit: Embracing Situated Discretion." By Josh Berson, February 2023.
"Imagining Equity: Explorations into the Future of Enterprise: A Series Overview." By Rebecca Shamash, February 2023.
"Can we fix business education to build equitable enterprises?"
By Jerry Davis, October 2022.
"Five Ways Business Schools Can Cultivate Better Leaders."
By Rebecca Shamash, July 2022. Stanford Social Innovation Review.
"Re-Working the Future:Strategies for Building Enterprises in the 21st Century."
By IFTF Executive Director Marina Gorbis, June 2022.
"Building More Equitable Enterprise."
Keynote by IFTF Executive Director Marina Gorbis, September 2021.
"Philanthropy Should Help Create Better Jobs, Not Just Better-Trained Workers." By Marina Gorbis, September 2021. Chronicle of Philanthropy.
