Employee ownership fund spotlights
June 16, 2026
EO Fund Spotlight: Catalytic capital for employee ownership
As the field of employee ownership continues to grow, catalytic capital continues to be an essential enabler of the ecosystem. Mission-driven funds step in to provide the flexible, patient financing that makes EO transactions possible for smaller businesses, for worker cooperatives, employee ownership trusts that are not served by banks, and for communities that have historically had limited access to conventional capital.
These catalytic funds occupy a distinct and important role: they are specifically designed to take on transactions that mainstream lenders don’t or can’t, and they structure financing with mission as the primary driver.
In this EO Fund Spotlight, we feature three national funds that have built their models around catalytic impact — and the practitioners leading that work.
This EO Fund Spotlight explores:
- What distinguishes catalytic EO funds and why that role matters for the broader capital ecosystem
- The financing gaps they are designed to address and the structures they use to do it
- How these funds deploy capital across different EO structures
- The differences between being a CDFI (or not), or a nonprofit fund versus a cooperative fund, and how this affects the types of capital they can raise and deploy
- What is working, where challenges remain and what expanded capital could make possible
- How investors and supporters can engage with catalytic EO funds
Our featured funds and speakers
Christina Jennings, Executive Director, Shared Capital Cooperative
Christina Jennings is the Executive Director of Shared Capital Cooperative, a national CDFI loan fund that finances the growth of cooperatives across the U.S. With over 25 years of experience in community development finance in the U.S. and internationally, she has dedicated her career to advancing economic justice and expanding equitable access to capital. Christina joined Shared Capital in 2008. Under her leadership, the fund has tripled in size, undergone a successful national expansion and rebranding, and introduced innovative lending and investment strategies to better serve cooperatives. Previously, Christina worked with U.S. CDFIs, as well as with international investment funds. She has also launched and managed small businesses and social ventures.
Christina holds a Master’s in Community Economic Development and Nonprofit Management from the
Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, and a BA in gender and development from Hampshire College. She has served on the board of directors of numerous local and national organizations. She currently serves on the boards of directors of NCBA-CLUSA and the City of Lakes Community Land Trust, as well as on the loan committee of the Latino Economic Development Center (in Minnesota).
David Kenney, Employee Ownership Catalyst Fund Manager, Project Equity
At Project Equity, David is responsible for the EO Catalyst Fund’s strategy, growing the fund, and deploying its capital in support of Project Equity’s employee ownership mission.
Previously, David built and led VertueLab for 15 years, a nonprofit organization with a mission to unleash innovation and entrepreneurship to solve environmental challenges and catalyze shared economic prosperity. VertueLab also launched and deployed an investment fund utilizing a catalytic capital investing approach. Before VertueLab, David held a variety of leadership roles in finance, project management and business operations at Intel Corp.
Jonathan Ward, Director of Lending, Fund for Jobs Worth Owning, ICA Group
Jonathan Ward is the Director of Lending for the Fund for Jobs Worth Owning, a
national, evergreen loan fund investing in worker ownership to create quality jobs and
build wealth, voice, and power for workers. He oversees the Fund’s lending, portfolio
management, capital raising, and technical assistance, pairing flexible financing with
transformative coaching for worker cooperatives in the home care and child care
sectors as well as employee‑ownership buyouts across industries. Jonathan also
consults with the ICA Group—FJWO’s affiliate and the nation’s oldest developer of
worker cooperatives—supporting business planning and ownership conversions. He
holds graduate degrees in business and public policy from UMass Amherst and a BS
from Bentley University.
Moderated by Alison Lingane, Founder, Ownership Capital Lab
Alison is Founder and CEO of the Ownership Capital Lab, which focuses on capital as a growth and scale lever for impact-first employee ownership. The Lab identifies, pilots, and supports the uptake of strategies for financing employee ownership at greater scale.
For investors, fund managers and ecosystem builders, this session offers a timely look at how catalytic capital is expanding the reach and scale of employee ownership, and what the next chapter of growth could look like.