"Good decisions are built into worker cooperatives from the inside out," says Alison Lingane.

In this episode of Next Economy Now, Ryan Honeyman, a partner and worker-owner at LIFT Economy, interviews Alison Lingane, co-founder of Project Equity.

Project Equity is a nonprofit organization that fosters economic resiliency by demonstrating and replicating strategies to increase worker ownership.

In this interview, Lingane and Honeyman discuss:

Some of the differences between worker-owned cooperatives, ESOPs (or Employee Stock Ownership Plans), and employee stock options, which you might get as an employee of a tech company like Twitter or Facebook.

The startling fact that there are only 300-400 worker-owned cooperatives in the entire U.S. Lingane hopes to change this with her new co-op incubator program at Project Equity.

Increasing worker ownership at your business.

Some of the frequently asked questions and steps you will need to consider before making the transition.​

If you only have two minutes, click here for a highlight from the interview.

This is part of a series of Next Economy Now podcasts we are publishing on Shareable. You can also listen/subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, democratic, transparent, and whole-systems approach to solving social and environmental challenges. The goal of this podcast is to identify the trends, tips, and best practices that will help listeners better harness the power of business as a force for good.

Header image by Impact Hub Oakland.