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Due Diligence Demystified: CFO Insights

  Education Level: For All Levels

Navigating the due diligence process is a critical step in maintaining a successful and sustainable ESOP company. This session brings together a valuation specialist and two ESOP company CFOs to provide a comprehensive roadmap for mastering due diligence meetings.

Through a conversational approach, the speakers will provide an interesting blend of perspectives about how to prepare for and execute an effective due diligence process for an annual ESOP valuation.

Attendees will gain firsthand insights into key financial and operational considerations, best practices for preparing and presenting company data, and strategies to foster a productive dialogue with valuation professionals. Whether you’re a CFO, a trustee, or an ESOP committee member, this session will equip you with the tools to ensure a smooth, transparent, and well-organized due diligence process.

What Do Standout Trustees Do Differently in Governance?

  Education Level: For All Levels

Have you ever wondered how other trustees are interacting with boards and management? What differentiates standout trustees when it comes to their role in governance?

Join facilitated small-group breakouts to explore trustee governance interaction success practices. We’ll explore what and how standout trustees engage with boards and management in fulfilling the collective’s shared stewardship of employee-owners’ interests.

We’ll unpack what is done—and what isn’t. For example, how much, when, and for what outcomes do standout trustees engage? We’ll look at trustee interactions through the lens of continuous change in the marketplace and in the business.

We’ll exchange learning and experiences in each small group, across the room, and as introduced by the session leaders through their vantage points of both “in” and “on” the business and its governance. Whether you’re new to employee-owned business or decades in, it’s a good time to take your governance interactions to their next-level opportunity.

Importantly, this session is not about the slate of trustee responsibilities. The conversation is about how standout trustees engage in a differentiated way with boards and management to do those responsibilities.

Learn also how to continue the conversation in your own ecosystem of shared stewardship. Whether you’re a trustee, director or company leader, come away ready to have the conversation with your fellow stewards about elevating your interactions to the next level of impact for the employee-owners’ interests you serve. 

Brand is Culture, Culture is Brand: Why Strategic Marketing Builds ESOP Value

  Education Level: For All Levels

In a world where attention is scarce and misinformation spreads quickly through AI-powered tools, brand reputation matters more than ever. For employee-owned companies, brand perception is one of the most valuable—and often underleveraged—assets available. Yet many ESOP companies underinvest in branding and marketing, missing key opportunities to increase visibility, attract aligned customers and talent, and build lasting trust in the marketplace.

This session challenges the idea that marketing is only about generating leads. Customers choose to buy, and top talent chooses to apply, based on a company’s reputation. Brand perception signals credibility, cultural alignment, and purpose. These factors directly influence growth trajectory and shareholder value.

Led by Angi Krueger, Chief Marketing Officer at OwnersEdge, a 100% employee-owned ESOP holding company, and Chelsea Drusch, VP, Marketing and Sales Growth Solutions at Weidert Group, an employee-owned B2B digital marketing agency, this session explores how branding, storytelling, and content strategy can fuel sustainable growth. Through real-world examples and a practical brand positioning framework, attendees will learn how a strong brand supports recruitment, elevates reputation, enhances enterprise value, and contributes to long-term ESOP success.

Whether you are in marketing, HR, communications, or leadership, you will leave this session ready to position branding as a strategic business lever, with actionable ideas to increase trust and engagement through content and storytelling.

Register now for the NCEO 2026 National Employee Ownership Conference