With the appointment of an experienced worker ownership professional, Hilary Abell, as the division chief of the Division of Employee Ownership, the federal government now has a full-time staff member dedicated to helping employers and employees learn about employee ownership.

The Division of Employee Ownership is a unit in the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). Assistant Secretary of Labor for EBSA Lisa M. Gomez told the NCEO, “The Employee Benefits Security Administration is excited to continue the work of our Division of Employee Ownership with Hilary Abell now joining as Division Chief to bring this initiative to the next level. With more than 20 years’ experience advocating for employee ownership, worker democracy, and worker voice, she brings valuable experience and perspective to our team as we strive to protect, educate, and empower America’s workers and help both workers and businesses learn more about the opportunities that worker ownership can provide, as well as the obligations and considerations involved for anyone contemplating worker ownership.”

Abell said about her new role, “I am so honored to lead the new Employee Ownership Initiative at the Department of Labor! It represents an unprecedented opportunity to make business ownership, worker voice, and economic mobility a reality for many, many workers across the U.S.”

As we reported, the Division of Employee Ownership directly results from the SECURE 2.0 Act, passed in the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act. 

The appointment of a division chief whose roots are in employee ownership is a wonderful sign of the DOL's increasing potential to actively support the continued growth of employee ownership, continuing the shift in the relationship between the DOL and the ESOP community that Assistant Secretary Gomez described in her remarks at the NCEO's conference in Tampa on April 29, 2024 (video, transcript).