Allison Wilkerson spoke at the ESOP Association’s Employee Owned 2025 Conference on November 3, 2025 at the following sessions:

Employee Ownership Plans for Cross Border Companies
This session covered the importance of cross-border strategies, and the unique challenges presented for employee-owned companies in the US and Canada. The session focused on ESOPs and Canada’s new EOT. In addition, we discussed common solutions as well as future policy changes that could address current challenges.

Navigating Governance: Strategies for Board Effectiveness
As a shareholder, the ESOP is responsible for voting its shares of stock to elect members of the Board of Directors and subsequently monitoring actions taken by the Board. Effective corporate governance, however, is not solely an ERISA construct. This session explored (i) alternatives for electing an appropriate mix of individuals to serve on the Board, (ii) what corporate activities are relegated to the Board and (iii) the standards imposed on Directors to make appropriate decisions. The panel further reviewed what protections may be offered by effective structuring of the Board of Directors and/or utilization of appropriate special Board committees.