Ownership in Action | New Manager Workshop Program

NEW ESOP MANAGERS July 14, 2025 | San Diego, CA An interactive workshop designed for employee-owners, by employee-owners

2025 Forum We invite you to join us in Philadelphia!

Use code ESOP to save $50 on your Forum registration.

Learn more at forum.nceo.org.

EVENT SUPPORTERS

MEMBER RESOURCES

THANK YOU TO OUR SPEAKERS FOR MAKING THIS EVENT POSSIBLE!

ESOP TRAINING PROGRAMS The NCEO offers a live training program for ESOP communications committee members. The programs are presented by the NCEO Director of Education Lindsay Isaac over the course of 4 weeks. Each session is 90 minutes long and includes interactive and engaging activities. This training costs $350 for NCEO members.

We also offer a monthly, member-exclusive communications resource called The Download. Each featured resource has been designed for use by employee-owners at your company and can be passed on as is or with minimal adaptation to include the specifics of your plan. NCEO members can sign up today to receive The Download directly to their inbox as it is released each month.

PUBLICATIONS Beyond Engagement The ESOP Communication Committee Guide The ESOP Communication Sourcebook Leadership Development & Succession

LIVE WEBINARS & REPLAYS Stay up to date on ESOPs and equity compensation with online presentations on legal, governance, HR, communications, and financial topics from our Compass online learning series. Both live and recorded webinars are free for NCEO members.

We offer approximately 45 live ESOP webinars every year. Each webinar is recorded and then placed into our Replay Library for you to re-watch at your convenience.

NCEO live webinars offer continuing education credit for CPE and SHRM. Find out more information about webinars at www.nceo.org/live-webinars.

NCEO Peer Networking Learning from and with other employee-owned companies is one of the most effective ways to supercharge your employee ownership practices and performance. Meet your NCEO company peers to discuss everything from leadership and succession, to communication and engagement, to valuation and transaction issues.

1.ESOP Finance Working Group 2.HR Peer Networking Group 3.ESOP CEO Network 4.Innovation Communication Coalition (ICC) 5.Large Company ESOP Network

Speakers Timothy Garbinsky is the communications director at the NCEO. In his role, Tim works with volunteers, allied organizations, and the press to creatively and effectively disseminate information about employee ownership and advance the NCEO's mission. He earned his BA from Duke University in 2009 and has since worked as a content creator and an educator, skills that he transfers to the NCEO. Originally from the D.C. metropolitan area, Tim now lives in California's Central Valley with his wife and son.

As CEO of 5by5, Shannon Litton has worked with over 500 organizations on everything from rebranding to multicultural marketing. She understands the challenges facing today’s business leaders and how to break through clutter in an overcrowded marketplace. She’s an expert in developing strategies that propel change down the street or around the world…and she makes it fun for everyone involved.

Gregg Peters has experienced the employee ownership world as a participant, executive, board member, and now consultant. Gregg has worked for four different ESOP organizations over the course of his career in banking and manufacturing. During this time, he has learned the inner workings of ESOPs the hard way. This has taught him some valuable lessons regarding plan design and structure. The journey has also given Gregg a unique perspective on how the various partners and service providers interact. Macatawa Strategies was formed as a way to give back to the ESOP community.

Tim Rettig is a second-generation serial ESOP entrepreneur. Tim started Intrust IT in 1992 while in college at the University of Cincinnati. As the company grew, it was ranked on the Inc. 500|5000 list six times and has been recognized as a Best Place to Work in Cincinnati twelve times. Tim transitioned the company to be employee-owned via an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) in 2019, just like his father, Jay Rettig, did with his company, Software Solutions, in 2004. Tim has a life goal to create over 10,000 employee-owners through his advocacy of employee ownership.

Lindsay Shafer, MA, is a consultant at Praxis Consulting Group. She currently provides ESOP communication, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), strategic planning, and other organization development services to nonprofits and employee-owned companies. Lindsay has over 15 years of experience as a facilitator, trainer, and project manager, and she has worked with for-profit, nonprofit, government, and education clients.

As the NCEO’s senior research and data analyst, Liza Shirfin is a part of the NCEO’s research department and is responsible for planning, designing, and executing research projects that directly benefit NCEO members. In total, Liza has 7 years of experience in all aspects of generative and evaluative research including design, recruitment, execution, analysis, and presentation. She earned her MA in sociology from San Diego State University and her PhD in sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Agenda: July 14 TIME

TOPIC

8:00 AM

Registration & Breakfast Industry I–III

9:00 AM

Understanding ESOP Management Framework Tim Garbinsky, NCEO

10:15 AM

Refreshment Break

10:30 AM

Leadership in an ESOP Culture Lindsay Shafer, Praxis Consulting Group

12:00 PM

Lunch Topside: 3rd Floor

1:00 PM

Financial Literacy for ESOP Managers Liza Shifrin, NCEO Gregg Peters, Macatawa Strategies

2:15 PM

Driving Employee Engagement and Motivation Shannon Litton, 5by5

3:30 PM

Refreshment Break

3:45 PM

Strategic Decision-Making and AI Vision: Forging the Future Tim Rettig, Intrust IT

4:45 PM

Wrap-Up & Driving It Home Tim Garbinsky, NCEO

5:30 PM

Networking Cocktail Reception Grand Ballroom & Patio