Your Work Friends Podcast: Ownership Works - When All Employees Own a Piece of the Upside with Ownership Works Executive Director Anna-Lisa Miller, Picture of woman in black top and blazer smiling

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Most people trade time for a paycheck and never get near the real wealth their work creates. This episode looks at what happens when that changes, when every employee owns a piece of the upside and the payouts are big enough to pay off debt, buy a home, or finally breathe a little easier. It is part money, part power shift, and a clear signal that workers are true partners in the business, not just a cost line.

Watch ownership for everyone in action below!

Ownership for Everyone…

This video shows a recent program exit, from September 2025, where all employees at Integrated Specialty Coverages (ISC) had the chance to share in the benefits of ownership.  Through ISC’s employee ownership program, nearly 400 employees received cash payouts at closing, ranging from three to thirty months of annual pay for the most tenured team members. In this video, ISC CEO Matt Grossberg and KKR Partner Chris Harrington reflect on ISC’s journey with shared ownership and what the sale means for the entire team.

ISC Employees Share in Big Payout

C.H.I Overhead Doors: A Case Study in Employee Ownership

In June 2022, KKR completed the sale of C.H.I. Overhead Doors, a leader in the garage door industry. This video shows how all 800 C.H.I. employees received a substantial cash payout – on average approximately $175,000 – on their equity in the company. The impressive payouts are a reflection of the strong ownership culture that C.H.I employed, engaging workers in reducing safety incidents, finding efficiencies, and increasing retention..

Ingersoll Rand’s Employee Ownership Story

Discover how Ingersoll Rand made all 21,000 of its employees owners in the company – driving the business to new heights and creating meaningful wealth-building opportunities across the workforce. In this video case study, Vicente Reynal, Chairman & CEO of Ingersoll Rand, reflects on the journey of leading one of the most ambitious broad-based ownership programs in corporate America, helping grow the company’s value sevenfold in just five years.

Why are we still treating wealth-building at work like a VIP perk?

Senior executives have long enjoyed equity as part of their compensation.  But what happens when everyone gets a piece of the upside?

This week, we sit down with Anna-Lisa Miller, Executive Director of Ownership Works, a nonprofit partnering with companies and investors to expand broad-based employee ownership - creating real financial stability for workers and driving stronger business performance for employers.

📈 Here’s the wild part:
Shared ownership isn’t a feel-good perk. It’s delivering life-changing payouts —
helping employees pay off debt, buy homes, build generational wealth, and finally get out from under the daily squeeze that 1 in 4 American workers are living in.

In this conversation, we get into:

  • How equity for all employees actually works (it’s simpler than you think)

  • Why private equity has become an unlikely accelerant of inclusive wealth-building

  • The cultural shift that happens when workers feel, think, and act like owners

  • What CEOs gain when they stop treating employees as a cost and start treating them as partners

  • Why empathy + transparency are becoming future-of-work leadership superpowers

This movement is already proving what many of us believe:
When companies win, workers should too.

And Anna-Lisa? She’s a powerhouse — and the daughter of a badass immigrant mom who built the American dream the hard way. This work is deeply personal.

Listen in to hear how shared ownership could redefine what’s possible for millions of workers - and for the companies bold enough to lead the way.

About Anna-Lisa

  • Anna-Lisa Miller is the founding Executive Director of Ownership Works. She is responsible for the organization’s strategy, key partnerships, growth, and overall impact. With a career deeply rooted in expanding shared ownership, advancing racial equity, and driving systemic change, Anna-Lisa is a recognized leader in the nonprofit sector. She brings extensive experience in building organizations, designing impactful programs, and forging partnerships that deliver lasting social and economic benefits to communities. 

More about Ownership Works: 

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. We are not responsible for any losses, damages, or liabilities that may arise from the use of this podcast. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

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