Legacy Fund

Thank you for considering a donation to the NCEO Legacy Fund.

The NCEO Legacy Fund was established to honor the memory of our peers, leaders, and members who have shared our mission of helping employee ownership thrive. This fund supports a multi-year, collaborative effort focused on research and scholarship to promote the growth and long-term sustainability of employee ownership structures, including ESOPs.

Through scholarship, research, and research-based outreach, the fund aims to expand access to employee ownership—helping more companies, individuals, and communities benefit from its advantages. Additionally, it seeks to shape the future of employee ownership and the professionals who support it.

The projects and beneficiaries of the fund, along with the outcomes of each initiative, will be continually updated on this page. An advisory committee will oversee the selection process, reviewing and approving projects on an ongoing basis. Stay connected for updates as we work together to advance the impact of employee ownership.

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In memory of:

Greg Brown

Greg HEadshot from Joy cropped

Gregory K. Brown (1951-2023) was a highly skilled and accomplished employee benefits lawyer with a passionate belief in the concept of employee ownership. Greg saw first-hand what happens when employees own a share of the companies where they work – the benefits to the companies, but also to the economic well-being of employees and their families, often among people who would otherwise never own a piece of the American economy. He was directly involved in helping hundreds of companies, representing countless employees, with employee-ownership structures, operations and sustainability. Greg also served as a formal and informal mentor to many in the community, helping to grow the next generation of service providers in the industry and generously sharing his wealth of knowledge to anyone he came across.

Bob Smiley

Robert Smiley, one of the pioneers of ESOPs, died at the age of 81 on November 13, 2024. Bob was a past president of the ESOP Association and was instrumental in its foundation. He was an early and generous supporter of the NCEO and served on the NCEO's board for several years.

He was the founder and board chair of the Benefit Capital Group, an ESOP banking and advisory firm. He formed Benefit Capital, Inc., which provided advice to ESOP deals worth over $5 billion over 30 years.  He was also a contributing author to the NCEO’s Journal of Employee Ownership Law and Finance, which was published from 1989 to 2010, and was the managing editor of Employee Stock Ownership Plans: ESOP Planning, Financing, Implementation, Law and Taxation, a definitive publication on ESOP legal, financial, and administrative issues. Mr. Smiley also served on the faculty of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Extension and was a trustee for the Reason Foundation, a free-market think tank, for nine years. He also served in the Navy. Bob was a key player in the development of ESOPs and is dearly missed.