NGA Center for Best Practices

The NGA Center for Best Practices teams and divisions develop innovative solutions to today’s most pressing public policy challenges. The center is the only research and development firm that directly serves the nation’s Governors.

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Discussing Youth Mental Health at the 2023 Jed Policy Summit

Discussing Youth Mental Health at the 2023 Jed Policy Summit

NGA’s Jess Kirchner and Jillian Meinhardt highlighted the importance of youth mental health at The Jed Foundation’s 2023 Jed Policy Summit. Thank you to The Jed Foundation for inviting Jess ...
Disagree Better Panelists Highlight Ways to Teach Students of All Ages about Healthy Conflict and Free Expression

Disagree Better Panelists Highlight Ways to Teach Students of All Ages about Healthy Conflict and Free Expression

NGA Chair Utah Governor Spencer Cox and Vice Chair Colorado Governor Jared Polis welcomed Montana Governor Greg Gianforte and Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt along with national experts and students to ...
Giving Thanks, Giving Back

Giving Thanks, Giving Back

The research is clear that participating in service activities generates a host of benefits – for communities and for volunteers themselves. Service can help meet community needs and strengthen community ...
Building Systems for Success: Key Considerations for Youth Apprenticeship System Design

Building Systems for Success: Key Considerations for Youth Apprenticeship System Design

In most states, youth apprenticeship systems are relatively new and are still evolving in response to the needs of students, employers, and partners. (Download) The National Governors Association Center for ...

Disagree Better

Americans need to disagree better. And by that we don’t mean that we need to be nicer to each other, although that’s helpful. We need to learn to disagree in a way that allows us to find solutions and solve problems instead of endlessly bickering.

The “exhausted majority” of Americans want this, and the science is clear about interventions that reduce polarization. As doers and builders, Governors are in a unique position to model what healthy conflict looks like.

Governor Spencer Cox’s Disagree Better NGA Chair’s initiative looks at the problems of polarization, elevates the solutions that groups around the country are already implementing, and features Governors showing what disagreeing better looks like. Through public debates, service projects, public service announcements and a variety of other tactics, Americans will see a more positive and optimistic way of working through our problems.

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Center for Best Practices Library

2023 Cybersecurity Policy Advisors Network In-Person Convening

2023 Cybersecurity Policy Advisors Network In-Person Convening

The 2023 Cybersecurity Policy Advisors Network In-Person Convening was held on September 27-28th in Washington, DC. Hosted by the National ...
Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2023

Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2023

In today's digital world, cybersecurity is more important than ever. As our society relies increasingly on technology, we become more ...
September Quarterly Infrastructure Coordinator Workshop

September Quarterly Infrastructure Coordinator Workshop

On September 12 to 14, 2023, National Governors Association hosted its fifth Quarterly Infrastructure Coordinator Workshop in Washington, D.C. This ...
Organizational Opportunities for Strengthening the Human Services Workforce

Organizational Opportunities for Strengthening the Human Services Workforce

Background State human services agencies are charged with managing complex programs and designing innovative solutions to complicated social concerns. However, ...
Advancing Equity in the Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Sectors

Advancing Equity in the Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Sectors

On Wednesday, September 27th NGA hosted its third webinar in a four-part series highlighting innovative and replicable projects that are ...
Leveraging Outdoor Assets in the Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Sectors

Leveraging Outdoor Assets in the Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Sectors

On Wednesday, December 13th at 1:00 PM Eastern Time, NGA will be hosting its fourth and final webinar in a ...
2023 Energy Cybersecurity Resources For Governors’ Advisors

2023 Energy Cybersecurity Resources For Governors’ Advisors

This resource guide provides an overview of federal and state cybersecurity standards for the energy sector as well as a ...
How Healthy Conflict Can Strengthen Nation

How Healthy Conflict Can Strengthen Nation

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, a Democrat, recently joined former Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell, a Republican, to participate in a ...
Early Wins: A Tailored Tool For A Big Problem

Early Wins: A Tailored Tool For A Big Problem

Policymakers and technologists who are working to build learning and employment records talk about the ways they could transform how ...
At Disagree Better Event, National Security Experts Warn of the Dangers of Toxic Polarization

At Disagree Better Event, National Security Experts Warn of the Dangers of Toxic Polarization

Americans are all too familiar with the impact of toxic polarization in settings from home to work to Congress. Whether ...
State and Territory Leaders Meet for the Next Generation of the Healthcare Workforce Summit

State and Territory Leaders Meet for the Next Generation of the Healthcare Workforce Summit

The 2023 National Governors Association Healthcare Workforce Summit was held in Broomfield, Colorado, August 21-23, 2023. The summit brought together ...
Bridging Partisan Divides by Repairing American Institutions

Bridging Partisan Divides by Repairing American Institutions

Through his Chair’s Initiative: Disagree Better, National Governors Association Chair Utah Governor Spencer Cox aims to elevate solutions to toxic ...

PAST NGA CHAIRS INITIATIVES