Giving Compass' Take:

· Unemployment is an ongoing issue worldwide. Ascend at the Aspen Institute is helping promote employment and prosperity for families by presenting practical solutions and exploring the new trends in the workforce. 

· What can be done to help increase employment opportunities in the US? How will an increase in employment affect the economy?

· Read more about employment and how employment coaching could promote self-sufficiency. 

Last week, as the Department of Labor announced the latest round of employment numbers, I was fortunate to be with the Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation Community — experts and innovators committed to helping families with low incomes become participants in the economy — engaging in a new conversation about the future of work.

The Aspen Family Innovation experts came from around the country and represented the political spectrum. As Robert Doar from the American Enterprise Institute said, “This community being bipartisan is important. It’s a commitment to explore, but not agree. It’s an opportunity to try those things out.” We were on a shared mission to identify opportunities for people on the margins of our economy — opportunities to earn good incomes, raise stable families and fuel our nation’s economic future.

From our early post-WWII founding, prime ministers to parents with low incomes have described the sweet spot of the Aspen Institute as our ability to bring together the right people for the right conversation at the right time. As our nation considers the impact of an aging and diversifying population, automation, new needed skills, portable benefits, and shrinking labor force participation, to name a few, this was indeed the right time to have a conversation to shift the economic lens of the country that has economic growth and well-being of family as equal goals.

Fueled by an investment by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Ascend at the Aspen institute has created a learning and action community of leaders who are focused on new, bold strategies and solutions that strengthen parents’ employment, economic security, health and well-being. If we want innovative solutions, we must begin by asking different questions. How can we make these policies appeal across the political aisle? What have we learned from data and behavioral research that can inform our thinking? Who needs to lead so the right people will follow?

Read the full article about employment and the future of families by Anne Mosle at The Aspen Institute.