Case Study

How Ownership Works used a digital springboard to launch a movement

EY teams helped create an online presence — providing employees with the opportunity to build wealth at work.

The better the question

How does a wealth of information help drive wealth creation?

A digital investment builds the foundation for Ownership Works, creating a groundswell of awareness and support.

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Today, most corporations take a top-down approach to equity allocation, with stock ownership shared exclusively among C-suite executives. In contrast, hourly employees have no or limited ownership access such as stock options. This distribution often leads to less opportunity to build wealth for all employees. For nonprofit Ownership Works and its founder, Peter Stavros, reimagining equity and building wealth for all is a cornerstone to addressing this challenge. 

Stavros, co-head of Americas Private Equity for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (NYSE: KKR), recognized the importance of providing employees an opportunity to build wealth from an early age. His dad, a union road grader, witnessed several strikes and contract disagreements throughout his career. This led Stavros to study employee-owned stock programs and later apply what he learned to establish Ownership Works. 

I believe deeply in the power of employee ownership to help create an inclusive, equitable and resilient economy.

Stavros’ lifelong experiences are helping Ownership Works partner with companies and investors to provide support and resources to implement broad-based employee ownership programs. These programs are intended to reinvigorate corporate cultures; improve business performance; and create meaningful wealth-building opportunities for people of color, women and workers beyond senior management. 

 

“I believe deeply in the power of employee ownership to help create an inclusive, equitable and resilient economy,” said Anna-Lisa Miller, Executive Director, Ownership Works. “These programs can build significant opportunities for working families to invest in their financial futures.”

 

However, starting a nonprofit, especially one that would rely on contributions and collaboration from a large partner ecosystem, needed the right digital presence to attract and retain engaged supporters while raising awareness. That’s why when Ernst & Young LLP Partner Tim Tracy heard about Stavros’ vision and new organization, he knew an EY team could help Ownership Works amplify its cause by bringing the nonprofit to life with a modern digital presence. Tracy also saw the synergies between Ownership Works’ mission and the EY commitment to Building a better working world and putting people at the center of every decision.

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The better the answer

A new digital presence helps fuel a movement

EY design capabilities successfully balance organizational aspirations with brand awareness.

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The EY Design Studio (EYDS) collaborated with Ownership Works, creating a public face for the nonprofit. The goal was to name, brand and design a website for the new organization to help bring its mission to life while building online credibility. 

EYDS has four design studios located in Portland, Philadelphia, New York City and Charlotte. Each specializes in creating dynamic digital experiences for Fortune 500 companies. To support Ownership Works, EYDS assembled a multidisciplinary design team of researchers, content strategists, brand strategists, designers and developers. These professionals worked with Ownership Works to understand their business objectives, formulate strategies and design a human-centered digital experience. 

“Our entire team was inspired by Ownership Works’ mission and their design challenges. We wanted to help the organization raise awareness through strong branding and contemporary digital experiences,” said Jenny Moede, Managing Director, Ernst & Young LLP. “We were able to dive deep into their methodology and effectively represent them using design, tone of voice and a charismatic online presence.”

 

Ownership Works needed a brand and identity that was credible within the financial services, labor and nonprofit sectors. Stakeholder interviews helped create Ownership Works’ narrative and strategic vision. More than 60 prominent foundations, corporations, labor advocates, investors and pension funds have committed resources to support the movement.

 

“Once we completed the brand exercises, we used our findings to create a unique identity that reflected Ownership Works’ values including logo, typography and color palette,” stated John Motley, Manager, Ernst & Young LLP. “Beyond visual assets, we also helped them define their value proposition so people could easily understand who they are, what they do, and how their vision for shared ownership can improve the workplace and society.”  

The newly launched website is helping spread our mission so we can have more informed and meaningful conversations with investors and companies.

The final phase of the project was to put it all together. Developers from the EYDS team were involved in every stage of the process, providing technical counsel and transforming the designs into a robust website. Most important, the site was built using a user-friendly content management system allowing the ongoing maintenance of the site to be easily transferred to Ownership Works. 

The better the world works

Digital bridges the gap between knowledge and action

Ownership Works now has the platform to connect an ecosystem.

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With a clear brand identity and new user-optimized website, Ownership Works is better equipped to expand their mission, educate stakeholders and continue to build a consortium of business partners.
To date, more than
prominent foundations, corporations, labor advocates, investors and pension funds have committed resources to support this cause.

“The newly launched website is helping spread our mission so we can have more informed and meaningful conversations with investors and companies,” noted Stavros. “In fact, since our launch in April of 2022, hundreds of organizations have expressed an interest in learning about the benefits of shared ownership. And, as more and more companies become a part of this movement, we will continue to take critical steps toward our goal of creating $20b in employee wealth over the next decade.”

While the EY team worked to expedite the launch of the website with a robust design system and content management tool, considerations for business growth and future programming were included during the development of the site.

“When executed correctly, digital platforms can tie creative solutions and change together,” explained Tracy. “I’m excited that the EY Design Studio was able to help provide Ownership Works with the foundation needed to help them elevate their brand and expand their reach.”


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