Frontline Workers: The Essential Invisible
April 2026
Chicago, IL
Only 21% of shift workers participate in their employer’s medical care plan. These workers aren’t ignoring their health – they’re navigating rigid shifts, lost wages, confusing systems, and a deep-rooted sense that care isn’t meant for them.
This invite-only Acquis IRL will bring together an intimate group of healthcare executives, benefit designers, and policy shapers for 1.5 days inside the barriers and real-world tradeoffs frontline workers face every day.
What to expect
Chronic condition support group
Share a meal with real shift workers who have chronic conditions. Hear why silence felt safer than asking for help. Why using their benefits feels harder than figuring it out alone.
Join the crew
Take public transit across the city. Show up on time or get written up. Then step onto a frontline work crew —halfway through, someone hands you an HR flyer. You'll see how far it travels.
Make it work on $15/hour
Evaluate real job offers the way a frontline worker has to — wages vs. bus routes, childcare vs. shift times, benefits that don't start for 90 days. Try to keep someone employed for a year.
Request an invitation
Acquis IRLs are intimate, invite-only experiences that take senior executives directly into the environments where their decisions create real impact — revealing strategic insights that don't emerge in boardrooms or executive suites.
Strategy that starts in real life (irl)
Acquis IRLs widen executives' aperture and create an environment to ensure strategies account for stakeholder effects, regulatory risks, and social dynamics that increasingly shape long-term business success.