On October 6, Nasdaq convened its Economic Opportunity Summit — a half-day of panel discussions built on the legacy of its Purpose Forum designed to bring together innovators, policy experts, and business leaders under one roof to talk about what economic prosperity really looks like in 2025 and beyond. 

Centering questions of how we can expand access, revitalize communities, and drive inclusive, purpose-led growth, the day’s agenda ranged from rethinking how we measure prosperity to reimagining regional ecosystems, integrating capital with opportunity, and amplifying authentic storytelling as a force for change.

Below are some of the key insights from the event.

The New Company Town

1. Regional revitalization depends on intentional investment in education and ecosystems. Innovation isn’t confined to Silicon Valley — it’s taking root in cities and regions across the U.S. The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center’s Advancing Regional Innovation Economies Report maps where inclusive innovation is thriving, using data to highlight communities effectively linking education, research, and entrepreneurship. The findings show that regions with strong R1 and R2 universities, early-stage capital networks, and coordinated civic leadership see the highest GDP and talent growth.

2. Purpose-driven business is good business. Data shows that companies with purpose-driven values outperform peers across metrics like employee retention, innovation, and return on capital. With 94% of Gen Z workers unwilling to join companies that lack a clear social purpose, aligning corporate impact with community investment has become both an ethical and financial imperative.

3. The power of “co-op-etition.” For the Dallas Economic Development Corporation, success is built on a blend of fierce competition and deep collaboration between the private sector, government, and education. From streamlined permitting processes to customized workforce training and a tax-friendly environment, Dallas has become a national model for business attraction and ease of doing business.

4. Culture is a critical driver of economic growth. Panelists emphasized that vibrant arts, culture, and community life are not extras — they’re economic infrastructure. Investments in cultural institutions, public green spaces, and livable neighborhoods attract top talent and strengthen social cohesion. 

The Power of Possibility (featuring Jenny Just, co-founder and managing partner at Peak6 Investments and Sloane Stephens, professional athlete and founder of the Sloane Stephens Foundation):

1. The power of possibility begins with saying yes. Jenny Just’s career started on the trading floor — a male-dominated world where she learned early that opportunity often hides behind uncertainty. “I never said no,” she said. That willingness to try, to pivot, and to persist built a fintech empire from an initial $1.6 million family-and-friends investment into multiple multi-billion-dollar businesses. Her message: Don’t wait for the perfect plan — just begin, stay curious, and adapt.

2. Purpose fuels perseverance. For Sloane Stephens, the power of possibility comes from passion and persistence. What began as a neighborhood tennis hobby became a global platform for impact. Through the Sloane Stephens Foundation, she now helps youth see that the world is their oyster, providing access to sports, education, and mentorship so they can imagine bigger futures for themselves.

3. Failure is not fatal — it’s formative. Both speakers reframed failure as essential training. They urged audiences to embrace iteration — failure as a rep in the gym that builds the muscle of resilience.

4. Confidence at the table changes everything. Just’s current mission — to teach one million women and girls to play poker — isn’t about cards, but about confidence. Poker, she said, teaches risk-taking, capital allocation, and negotiation — the same skills needed in the boardroom. “If we teach our daughters to play poker,” she said, “we can change the world.”

Tracking Prosperity: How do we Measure Economic Impact?

1. GDP is essential — but incomplete. Panelists agreed that GDP remains a vital benchmark for assessing economic activity, but it is a blunt instrument that fails to capture inclusion, equity, or quality of growth. Global growth projections have declined from 3.7% pre-pandemic to just above 3% today, threatening income convergence and poverty reduction. We need complementary indicators that measure sustainability, inclusion, and balance — not just output.

2. Data granularity reveals who’s thriving and who’s being left behind. Panelists emphasized the importance of individual-level, real-time data to understand how families and small businesses are faring across income, race, and gender lines, and cautioned against aggregate indicators, which mask critical disparities.

3. Inclusive growth requires better data on how opportunity actually moves through the economy. Built through a collaboration between the Schultz Family Foundation, Harvard Business School, and the Burning Glass Institute, the American Opportunity Index uses millions of real career records to measure how well large employers enable upward mobility — tracking promotions, pay growth, and internal advancement. Now in its fourth year, the Index’s findings challenge assumptions about where opportunity lives: in many cases, frontline roles at mid-sized firms outperform brand-name employers on career progress. By turning workforce data into public benchmarks, the Index gives companies a roadmap to improve mobility outcomes and helps policymakers and investors identify where inclusive growth is genuinely taking root.

4. The future of prosperity depends on inclusion and adaptability. The panel closed with concern over asymmetries in the labor market — a mismatch between where jobs are disappearing (including software roles affected by AI) and where demand is rising. Without stronger education-to-employment pipelines and retraining systems, AI and automation risk deepening inequality rather than reducing it. New research from the Schultz Family Foundation and HarrisX recently put a name to this disconnect: the broken marketplace. The call to action: design data-informed policies that help workers move, not just survive, through economic transition.

Uniting Capital with Opportunity

1. Homeownership remains central to wealth creation—but new models are needed. In 1985, a teacher’s salary was one-third the price of a home; today, it is one-tenth. Shared appreciation lending models like those being pioneered by Homium help to connect capital markets directly to first-time homebuyers and can serve as unlocks that help teachers, nurses, and first responders afford homes in the communities in which they work.

2. Expanding stock ownership can narrow the wealth gap. Disparities in stock ownership are the single largest driver of the racial wealth gap, which is why companies like Ownership Works have taken up the mantle of ensuring that all employees — from the CEO to the front line workers — are partial owners through free equity grants. In addition to generating billions in payouts, ownership also results in greater engagement, lower attrition, and tangible financial gains for workers.

3. The next five years will test whether innovation can reach the people who need it most. Panelists envisioned a future where innovation serves teachers as much as tech executives. From portable lifelong savings accounts launched at birth to scalable models of employee ownership and affordable homeownership, they argued that aligning incentives between capital and community is the key to inclusive prosperity. 

4. Transforming the language of investing is just as critical as transforming its systems. The Transforming Investor Identity Research Report — a national pilot by Commonwealth with support from the Nasdaq Foundation — is a model for shifting cultural perceptions of what it means to be an investor. By studying how individuals see themselves in relation to investing, the research surfaces both structural and psychological barriers that keep millions from building wealth. Its findings challenge institutions to expand access not just through new products, but through new narratives — ones that connect financial inclusion to agency, identity, and long-term confidence.

Seizing Your Power (featuring Tiffany Dufu, President of the Tory Burch Foundation)

1. Storytelling is a leadership superpower. Dufu emphasized that “purpose isn’t mystical — it’s a decision inspired by your lived experiences.” By rooting leadership in personal narrative, individuals can clarify their purpose and communicate it authentically to others. The stories we choose to tell — like Dufu’s story of her mother breaking cycles of poverty — shape how we lead, what we stand for, and how effectively we inspire others.

2. Authenticity must live through behavior, not branding. Authenticity isn’t found on a company’s website or in its values statement, it’s revealed through daily actions. Dufu praised leaders who “send the elevator back down,” mentoring and supporting others in tangible ways. True purpose, she said, “has to manifest and live through the behavior of people, always.”

3. Rewriting the narrative of entrepreneurship. Dufu challenged prevailing myths that entrepreneurship is “too risky” or reserved for others. She urged women to redefine entrepreneurship as an extension of their grit and problem-solving, not an unreachable identity. 

4. The Tory Burch Foundation is scaling women’s economic power. Under Dufu’s leadership, the foundation has unlocked $342 million in economic impact to date and aims to surpass $1 billion by 2030. Its decade-long Fellows Program boasts a 91% business survival rate and focuses on helping women build multi-million-dollar enterprises by providing access to mentorship, markets, and capital — not just funding but a “sisterhood of founders” who help each other scale and succeed.

The State of Create: Exploring the Economic Impact of the Influencer

1. The term “influencer” is evolving into something more entrepreneurial. Panelists agreed that while “influencer” has picked up negative connotations, it still best captures the breadth of what creators do. One panelist observed that creators are “entrepreneurs building businesses around community,” while another mused that even C-suite executives now count as creators if they’re sharing expertise and building engaged audiences.

2. Agency and authenticity are driving Gen Z’s creator ambitions. Younger generations aren’t just seeking fame — they’re seeking freedom. The ability to build a media company from your phone makes content creation deeply appealing. Gen Z and Gen Alpha see it as a path to autonomy, creative control, and purpose-driven expression.

3. Monetization is becoming more democratized and diverse. Panelists highlighted how creators now monetize earlier and through multiple streams: direct fan support, brand deals, donations, speaking engagements, and ad revenue. Twitch’s affiliate model enables creators to earn income from day one, while others use partnerships and media opportunities to sustain free, educational content.

4. AI and trust will define the next era of influence. While creators see AI as a powerful tool for efficiency and safety moderation, panelists warned of its risks, including the rise of deepfake ads that can mimic a creator’s likeness, threatening the trust that underpins their relationship with audiences. Panelists agreed that more guardrails are needed in order to protect human authenticity and connection moving forward.

Breaking Barriers, Building Opportunity: Investing in Impact

1. The women’s sports “movement” isn’t a moment, it’s a systems reset. During the 2019 Women’s World Cup, Team USA’s victory and equal pay lawsuit revealed a glaring disconnect between audience enthusiasm and industry investment. Women’s sports weren’t lacking talent or audience — they were trapped in outdated business models measured by men’s sports metrics like reach and efficiency. 

2. Athletes must have a seat at the business table. Sue Bird — WNBA Champion, Olympic Gold Medalist, and Hall of Famer  — joined Deep Blue to bridge the gap between athletes and advertisers, bringing firsthand perspective to boardrooms often devoid of lived experience. Their collaboration ensures that partnerships are authentic, relevant, and reflective of real athletic culture — not filtered through outdated creative briefs.

3. Authenticity and engagement matter more than reach. Bird emphasized that the women’s sports community thrives on depth of connection rather than scale. This authenticity gives brands higher long-term value, transforming athletes into trusted cultural partners rather than traditional endorsers.

4. Purposeful partnerships drive cultural and economic returns. Deep Blue’s “Stay Ready” campaign with MassMutual spotlighted three athletes at different career stages, connecting financial readiness with empowerment and longevity. Rather than restricting it to “women’s sports” media, the campaign ran across March Madness, NBA Finals, and business networks — proving that women’s sports stories can outperform when told universally.