Launched in the fall of 2015, the Expanding Prosperity Impact Collaborative (EPIC) is an initiative of the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program.

EPIC is a first-of-its-kind initiative in the field of consumer finance, designed to harness the knowledge of a wide cross-section of experts working in applied, academic, government, and industry settings toward the goal of illuminating and solving critical dimensions of household financial insecurity.

As part of Aspen’s Financial Security Program (FSP), EPIC deeply explores one issue at a time, focusing on challenges that are critical to Americans’ financial security but under-recognized or poorly understood. EPIC uses an interdisciplinary approach designed to uncover new, unconventional ways of understanding the issue and build consensus among decisionmakers and influencers representing a wide variety of sectors and industries.

The ultimate goal of EPIC is to generate deeply informed analyses and build diverse expert networks that help stakeholders (1) understand and prioritize critical financial security issues, and (2) forge consensus and broad support to implement solutions that can improve the financial lives of millions of people. Our first issue was income volatility, followed by the current initiative on consumer debt, and most recently focused area on housing stability and affordability.

The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues.For more information, visit: www.aspeninstitute.org

The Aspen Institute Financial Security Program’s (Aspen FSP) mission is to illuminate and solve the most critical financial challenges facing American households and to make financial security for all a top national priority. We aim for nothing less than a more inclusive economy with reduced wealth inequality and shared prosperity.

We believe that transformational change requires innovation, trust, leadership, and entrepreneurial thinking. Aspen FSP galvanizes a diverse set of leaders across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to solve the most critical financial challenges. We do this through deep, deliberate private and public dialogues and by elevating evidence-based research and solutions that will strengthen the financial health and security of financially vulnerable Americans.​ For more information, visit: AspenFSP.org

EPIC’s work is supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the MetLife Foundation, Prudential Financial, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and by the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program’s other core funders.

Learn more about the team behind EPIC by visiting AspenFSP.org and scrolling down to see the full Aspen FSP team.