A Governor’s Action Guide to Achieving Good Jobs for All Americans

Oct 15, 2026

A Governor’s Action Guide to Achieving Good Jobs for All Americans presents a practical toolbox of high-impact actions for governors to connect workers to good jobs today and in the future. It frames a changing world of work shaped by technology, demographic shifts, and a tightening labor market, then organizes recommended strategies into three areas: workforce of the future, second acts for midcareer workers, and rural resurgence. The guide is grounded in research and input gathered from regional leadership workshops and partner best practices.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages40

Reading Time1 h 41 min

AccessFree to download

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Executive Summary

Workforce of the future — aligning education and work

Second acts — helping midcareer workers achieve success

Rural resurgence — empowering the rural workforce

A GOVERNOR’S ACTION GUIDE TO ACHIEVING GOOD JOBS FOR ALL AMERICANS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This guide was prepared by the NGA Solutions: The Center for Best Practices (NGA Solutions) team of Kimberly Hauge, Mike Bartlett, Dana Westgren and Meghan Wills. Martin Simon of NGA Solutions provided oversight, guidance and editing along with R. Kirk Jonas, the director of NGA Solutions. James Nash, Rachael Stephens and Amanda Winters with National Governors Association (NGA) provided content during draft reviews. Montana Governor Steve Bullock and his team, including senior adviser Adam Schafer and former policy adviser for education Siri Smillie, provided valuable advice during draft reviews. The NGA Solutions team thanks the participants at the three Good Jobs for All Americans regional leadership workshops, whose valuable input and examples shaped the content of this guide. The NGA Solutions team extends its appreciation to the organizations that provided funding and intellectual support for the 2018–19 NGA Chair’s Initiative, Good Jobs for All Americans: Amazon Web Services, Cognizant, Deloitte, Google, Lumina Foundation, Microsoft, Pearson, Siemens Foundation and Strada Education Network. FOREWORD Foreword by Governor Bullock All Americans deserve a fair shot at a good job. Even though we witness incredible talent in all corners of our country, opportunity and access to good jobs are often limited. The 2018–19 National Governors Association (NGA) Chair’s Initiative, Good Jobs for All Americans, aimed to understand the changing world of work and the factors that affect an individual’s ability to connect to a good job and for businesses to access the talent they need to thrive in today’s global economy. Based on this understanding of the changes in the working world,“A Governor’s Action Guide to Achieving Good Jobs for All Americans” offers a toolbox of high-impact actions that governors can take to connect workers to good jobs today and in the future. These actions fall into three categories: 􀁹 Workforce of the future: Governors can partner with businesses to identify the skills they will need in the future and how to best equip workers with these skills; 􀁹 Second acts: Governors can help midcareer workers succeed in the workforce through increased access to continuous learning opportunities, improved career transitions and holistic support; and 􀁹 Rural resurgence: Governors can empower the rural workforce by improving infrastructure and promoting communities’ and residents’ unique assets. Good Jobs for All Americans convened three regional leadership workshops that brought together more than 200 experts in teams from 42 states. Workshop participants generously shared strategies they have used within each focus area. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf hosted our first workshop in Pittsburgh; we held our second workshop in Las Vegas, Nevada; and I was pleased to be joined by both Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and NGA Vice Chair, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan at the third workshop in Des Moines, Iowa. We previewed the results of the research and workshops at a Solutions Summit near the end of the yearlong initiative in beautiful Whitefish, Montana, where we hosted more than 130 experts in teams from 32 states. One immediate finding from our research is that none of the systems change we talked about can occur without open and constant communication across partners. We were fortunate to have significant input and interest from partners in industry, philanthropy, education, economic development, workforce and human resources. Examples of best practices exist in many parts of the country, but it is only with help from all these partners that we can bring these efforts to every worker and business. I am excited to share the results of our initiative. My intent is that this guide will serve as a springboard to further conversations both at NGA and in states about improving access to good jobs. Sincerely, Montana Go

FAQs

What problem does the guide address?

It addresses limited opportunity and access to good jobs for many Americans amid a changing world of work and evolving employer skill needs.

How do governors’ actions in the guide fall into three categories?

The guide groups actions into Workforce of the future, Second acts, and Rural resurgence, each targeting different populations and barriers to employment.

What role do workshops and partners play in the guide?

Regional leadership workshops and partner contributions shaped the content by sharing strategies, examples, and best practices used across states and organizations.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Alex Sinclair