Wealth in the United States is more concentrated today than at any point in decades. Income covers daily needs, but wealth helps families weather shocks and pass security on to the next generation. That distinction may matter more as artificial intelligence and robotics change how we work, potentially shifting returns from wages toward those who own capital. Whether these technologies widen or narrow divides will depend on who owns and controls them, who holds economic power, where investments flow, and the policy choices we make, during the transition and after it. 

Join the Urban Institute and Policies for Action for a hybrid event focusing on (1) raising the floor so every household has the material foundations for a dignified life and (2) sharing the gains so more people and places can build wealth. Researchers, practitioners, and policy analysts will weigh the evidence on wages, guaranteed income, baby bonds, employee ownership, tax reform, and community investment, with a focus on Black communities and others long shut out of growth. Many of these policies are about repairing past harms and about preparing for what comes next. Because income, wealth, and work shape health and well-being across the life course, these choices touch nearly every part of American life. The goal is not a playbook but a sharper understanding of an economic future still being written.

Opening Remarks 

• Laudan Aron, Senior Fellow, Urban Institute 

Setting the Stage 

• Brett Theodos, Director, Center for Local Finance and Growth, Urban Institute 

Before we discuss solutions, where are we starting from? This opening session looks at how income and wealth are divided between labor and capital, how concentrated wealth has become, and where it sits geographically, as the baseline for everything that follows. 

Who Gets to Own: Capital, Communities, and Economic Power 

Ownership is about power and income. It shapes who shares in growth and who has a say in how the economy works, and access to capital decides who gets to own. Much of today’s tax and investment policy was built for an economy where most income comes from wages, and it hasn’t caught up with how gains are now being created and concentrated. This session asks how to get capital into the communities and businesses that have long gone without it and how the gains concentrating at the top might be shared more broadly. 

• Amanda Calder, Vice President, Scale and Strategic Initiatives, Project Equity 
• Nicole Manapol, Vice President, Emerging Practices, International Economic Development Council 
• Aparna Mathur, Senior Fellow, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center 
• Elisabeth Jacobs, Associate Vice President and Executive Director, WorkRise, Urban Institute (moderator) 

What It Takes to Get By and Get Ahead: Evidence on Guaranteed Income, Baby Bonds, and More 

Some policies set a floor so every household can meet its basic needs. Other policies give people a stake, meaning wealth they can build on from early in life. This session looks at what the evidence shows about guaranteed income and baby bonds and what they could mean as work and earnings change. 

• Fenaba Addo, Professor of Public Policy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Leah Hamilton, Professor of Social Work, Appalachian State University 
• Darrick Hamilton, Henry Cohen Professor of Economics and Urban Policy, The New School 
• Madeline Brown, Senior Policy Associate, Urban Institute (moderator) 

How We Shape What Comes Next: Mobility, Communities, and the Role of Policy

Policy has often lagged behind innovation, and the gap may be widening. This open conversation explores what is at stake for economic mobility and for communities, who is stepping in while public policy catches up, and what the evidence can tell us about which policies actually move the needle. 

• William “Sandy” Darity Jr., Professor of Economics, Howard University 
• Ben Soskis, Senior Research Associate, Urban Institute 
• Dell Gines, Economic Development Leader, Author, and AI Strategist (moderator)

 Closing Remarks

• Dell Gines, Economic Development Leader, Author, and AI Strategist

We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals to engage fully. Please email [email protected] if you require any accommodations or have any questions about this event. 

Funding for this event was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Policies for Action program. The views expressed should not be attributed to the foundation or to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders. For more on Urban’s funding policies, go to urban.org/about/organizational-principles.