Lisa Gomez Joins Employee Ownership Expansion Network Board

Brian Anderson

4 months ago

Former Department of Labor Assistant Secretary Lisa M. Gomez has a new gig, as the Employee Ownership Expansion Network (EOX) has announced her appointment to its Board of Directors.

In a press release this week, Arlington, Va.-based EOX said Gomez makes a powerful addition to its board leadership as employee ownership gains ground across the country.

“I’m honored to join the board of EOX and contribute to its work expanding access to employee ownership—a proven model for building economic resilience,” said Gomez. “In my career working on retirement policy and workplace equity, I’ve seen how giving workers a real say and stake in their company’s success can be transformative. I’m excited to help more businesses and workers tap into this potential as another path for empowering workers and strengthening businesses.”

EOX Executive Director Steve Storkan said the depth and diversity of talent on the EOX Board is a driving force behind its rapid success in launching, funding, and sustaining a national network of 24 State Centers for Employee Ownership.

“With leaders from business, academia, and the finance sector, my team and I benefit daily from world-class insight both inside and outside the boardroom. Adding Lisa Gomez, whose experience spans private legal practice and public service at the highest levels, elevates our board in a way most nonprofit organizations can only aspire to,” Storkan said. “I’m thrilled for the opportunity to learn from her and to see the dynamic collaborations that will emerge with our existing board as we continue to grow our national impact and solidify EOX’s role as a leader in the employee ownership movement.”

Gomez served as the Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security in the U.S. Department of Labor from October 2022 to January 2025, where she led the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the federal agency charged with protecting workplace retirement, health, and welfare benefits for more than 150 million workers.

Prior to her government service, Gomez spent nearly three decades in private practice as partner and management‑committee chair at Cohen, Weiss and Simon LLP, where she was recognized as a preeminent expert in employee benefits law.

During her time at EBSA, she led the creation of the Department of Labor’s Employee Ownership Initiative and the first-ever Division of Employee Ownership, dedicated to the promotion of employee ownership in all forms. Her leadership of the new Division of Employee Ownership marked a key pivot in federal involvement, shifting from strictly the enforcement of employee ownership to adding outreach, education, and resource-building around a business model essential to wealth equality, worker voice, and sustainable business transitions.

“From the time she spoke publicly about employee ownership at the 2024 NCEO Annual Conference, Lisa made it clear that she was entering the field as a listener, intentionally closing a longstanding gap between the regulation and promotion of employee ownership,” said EOX Board Co-Chair Jim Steiker. “She took the time to visit with employee owners across the country in an effort to understand employee ownership as more than just a retirement plan but as a tool for wealth sharing and equity and a pathway to more resilient regional economies.”

Steiker added that Gomez joining the board validates how far the employee ownership movement has come.

“Lisa brings genuine empathy for business owners and employee-owners alike, a rigorous grasp of policy levers, and most importantly, a passion awakened by real employee ownership stories,” Steiker said.

“Joining the EOX Board feels like a natural next step, and I’m excited to support their work expanding access, closing gaps, and lifting up the voices of those who know firsthand what shared ownership can mean for their lives and communities,” Gomez said in a LinkedIn post.

Founded in 2018, EOX is the nation’s only 501(c)(3) non-profit focused on building awareness and engaging local communities around all forms of employee ownership at state and national levels via a network of 24 State Centers for Employee Ownership.

In July, Pontera named Gomez as a strategic advisor for the firm, where she is working to accelerate the firm’s relationship with policymakers and the defined contribution (DC) industry and working alongside recordkeepers, retirement plan advisors, plan sponsors and participants on policy initiatives.