In this episode of the Owners at Work podcast, we speak with Danny Massey from Expanding ESOPs, a new national initiative focused on dramatically scaling employee ownership through policy change and public advocacy. Danny shares his journey from labor journalism and the Fight for $15 campaign to leading this effort to modernize the 51-year-old ESOP framework. We explore why expanding partial ESOPs in large companies could unlock trillions in worker wealth, and how this model can appeal across political lines. Danny also discusses Expanding ESOPs’ growing coalition, its core principles, and the powerful role of worker storytelling in building a national movement.
Daniel Massey brings over 25 years of experience as a journalist, strategist, and campaigner to his role as Head of Strategy and Communications at Expanding ESOPs. In this position, he leads national efforts to modernize employee ownership policy and broaden its adoption, particularly among larger companies and underrepresented sectors. Previously, at BerlinRosen, he helped build a nationally recognized labor practice and played a key role in historic campaigns like the Fight for $15, which led to $200 billion in raises for nearly 30 million workers. He’s contributed to major sector-wide wins for fast-food and rideshare workers, and his writing has appeared in outlets like The New York Times and Newsweek. Daniel is the author of Under Protest, a history of student resistance in apartheid South Africa, and holds degrees from Brown University, CUNY, and the University of Fort Hare.
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This episode of the Owners At Work podcast is sponsored by Eide Bailey.With over 25 years of experience, Eide Baily provides a full range of ESOP services, including feasibility and succession planning analysis, corporate audit and tax compliance, mature ESOP consulting, and sustainability analysis for mature ESOP companies..
The Owners at Work Podcast is a continuation of the biannual Owners at Work Newsletter which ran for 19 years (1990-2019). We are hoping to continue the same conversations and focus on providing updates on everything employee ownership. We plan to interview practitioners with expertise in different facets of employee ownership, academics doing new and interesting research, and most importantly, individuals who have a personal experience with employee ownership, including current and former employee-owners, mid-level to C suite management, and selling owners.
We want to produce a show that engages with relevant questions and provides practical lessons and information. We want this podcast to include the voices of those who practice employee-ownership each and every day. To that end we want to hear from you! We want to highlight what you are doing, whether you are an employee-owned company, a practitioner, or researcher.
***Please reach out via email: oeoc@kent.edu
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