Compassionate Change Maker
Hilary Abell has been an employee ownership practitioner, thought leader and advocate for 25 years. She cofounded Project Equity, a national nonprofit that helps businesses transition to employee ownership (EO) and develops policies, programs and partnerships to advance EO, especially for Black, Brown and low-income workers. Before Project Equity, Abell was a worker-owner at Equal Exchange and led WAGES, a nonprofit that developed worker cooperatives and dramatically increased low-income women’s financial security. Abell’s commitment to fostering working people’s agency and leadership is informed by diverse experiences, including organizing for human rights and fair trade in Latin America; supporting grassroots groups that provide health services in the world’s poorest communities; and training frontline workers to become worker-owners. Abell is known for her expertise in many aspects of worker ownership, her numerous publications, her ability as a partner and bridge builder and her trusting relationships spanning factory floors and boardrooms. She was a co-recipient of the 2022 Heinz Award for the Economy and a fellow with Echoing Green, Common Future and Rutgers’ Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership. Two decades after majoring in religion at Princeton, Abell got an MBA in sustainable management from Presidio Graduate School. She was recently appointed to lead the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Ownership Initiative, prompting her and her wife to move to the Washington, D.C., area after many years in Northern California. Abell is participating in this conference in a personal capacity only.