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Heirloom Library
Explore trusted sources on employee ownership and democratic governance. Heirloom explains what each source is useful for, so you can follow a guide or look up exactly what you need.
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Showing 20 of 140 published resources.
Reset search and filtersProject Equity
Project Equity’s overview of EOTs, including how the model works, why it is flexible, and how it can provide employees with profit sharing and a voice in governance.
National Center for Employee Ownership
A structured NCEO toolkit and calculator designed to help companies assess whether an ESOP may be a realistic next step.
Democracy at Work Institute / Project Equity
A DAWI and Project Equity framework for understanding the local and regional supports that help worker cooperatives grow.
National Center for Employee Ownership
An NCEO guide focused on how a sale to an ESOP can provide succession, liquidity, continuity, and employee ownership for closely held companies.
U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives / Democracy at Work Institute
A sector report on worker cooperatives and democratic workplaces in the United States based on fiscal year 2024 data.
Ohio Employee Ownership Center
A guide for small and medium-sized business owners planning ownership and management succession, including goals, stakeholders, valuation, and transition planning.
National Center for Employee Ownership
A toolkit for leaders considering selling their business to an already employee-owned company.
National Center for Employee Ownership
An NCEO guide comparing two paths: creating an ESOP inside the company or selling the company to an existing ESOP-owned acquirer.
Project Equity
Project Equity’s capital initiative supporting U.S. businesses that need financing to transition to employee ownership.
The Democracy Collaborative
A Democracy Collaborative report on financing strategies, case studies, and resources for scaling cooperatives and inclusive ownership.
Democracy at Work Institute
A DAWI resource on the capital landscape for worker cooperatives and how finance institutions can support worker ownership.
Sustainable Economies Law Center
A legal guide to converting an existing business to cooperative ownership, including entity formation, governance documents, asset transfer, financing, and transaction steps.
National Center for Employee Ownership
An NCEO toolkit on planning for the ESOP repurchase obligation, the company’s responsibility to provide cash when participants cash out shares.
Democracy at Work Institute
A DAWI resource collection focused on scale, impact, cooperative growth, economic recovery, and worker cooperative sector data.
CooperationWorks
A CooperationWorks article arguing that sociocracy can help worker co-ops avoid informal hierarchy, scale beyond consensus, and build transparent governance practices.
Aspen Institute
An Aspen Institute article explaining the growth of EOTs in the United States, their relationship to perpetual trusts, and why the model is gaining attention.
Cooperative Fund of New England, Project Equity, Democracy at Work Institute
A financing FAQ and case study report for investing in businesses converting to worker ownership.
Project Equity
A Project Equity article using three employee ownership case studies to show how transitions can create value for owners, employees, and advisors.
Ownership Works
Ownership Works’ public framing of shared ownership as financial participation paired with ownership culture, engagement, and employee voice.
The Democracy Collaborative / Project Equity
A research report by Hilary Abell on barriers and success factors for scaling worker cooperatives, including cooperative culture, training, management, capital, and governance.