Building Shared Success: A Guide to Small Business Job Quality Advising for CDFIs

Maureen Conway

Vice President; Executive Director

Rossana Espinoza

Associate Director, Business Ownership Initiative

Bryn Morgan

Senior Research Associate


Developed as part of the Shared Success demonstration, this tool offers guidance for business advisors at CDFIs on how to have conversations with small business owners on job quality improvements.

It centers business value and includes a variety of information and resources to assist business owners in addressing poor job quality. The tool revolves around two central questions:

  • How can implementing certain job quality improvements help business owners achieve desired business outcomes?
  • What strategies can be used by business advisors to demonstrate how these outcomes may surface?

This tool also encourages CDFIs, who mainly work with business owners, to consider the perspective of the business employees themselves. Ultimately, there are many opportunities for small businesses to improve the quality of jobs of their employees as part of their work in building a successful business.

For additional resources, on the six categories of job quality detailed in this tool, visit the Building Shared Success topic guide in our Job Quality Center of Excellence.

About Shared Success

Shared Success, a project of the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program, shows how building better jobs can simultaneously uplift workers while also driving small business success.

About the Economic Opportunities Program

The Aspen Institute’s Economic Opportunities Program advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy.

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Advising Small Businesses on Job Quality: Lessons From CDFIS

This webinar, which EOP hosted on June 26, 2025, features highlights from the guide, as well as insights from CDFI leaders about their approaches to building job quality advising into their work. It features opening remarks from the Aspen Institute’s Maureen Conway and Bryn Morgan, followed by a panel discussion with Amanda Blondeau (Northern Initiatives), Cynthia Murphy (Coastal Enterprises, Inc.), and Delphine Ntegeye (African Development Center).