NGA Center for Best Practices
NGA Center for Best Practices teams develop innovative solutions to today’s most pressing public policy challenges. The NGA Center is the only research and development firm that directly serves the nation’s Governors.
Latest
How States are Protecting Critical Energy Infrastructure Information
Protecting the electric grid is becoming more complex as the size of the grid continues to grow, and cybersecurity threats are increasing in number and becoming more sophisticated. To meet ...
First Spouses Meet with Second Lady, Convene at 2026 NGA Winter Meeting
First Spouses routinely convene at the annual NGA Winter Meeting to meet with philanthropic and government leaders and to elevate the initiatives they are leading in their states and territories ...
Civility, Federalism, and the Future of American Politics
In a week that could easily have been defined by division, the penultimate session of the 2026 NGA Winter Meeting offered something increasingly rare in American public life: two politicians, ...
Reigniting the American Dream
Every American should have the opportunity to build a life of purpose, to strengthen their community, and to help shape a nation defined not only by prosperity, but by potential realized. Yet across our very diverse states, too many people have lost faith in this opportunity. They’ve faced too many obstacles, encountered too many closed doors, and given up the hope of a brighter future. We can do better.
Reigniting the American Dream is more than an initiative. It’s an invitation for every U.S. governor to take action.
Program Areas
Center for Best Practices Library
Putting CARES Act Funds To Work: Prioritizing Testing and PPE to Protect Americans
Federal support is needed to ensure that states and territories have the necessary PPE and testing resources to protect our ...
Current Legal Protections And Opportunities For Supporting Workers
(Download) To explore how Governors and state leaders may better understand and support the on-demand workforce, in 2018 the National ...
Putting CARES Act Funds to Work: Investing in Education, Investing in Recovery
Federal support is needed to ensure school safety, as well as protect public health, stimulate the economy, coordinate and support ...
The Future of State Telehealth Policy
This paper summarizes the types of telehealth policy flexibilities provided by states and the federal government during the COVID-19 pandemic ...
Information Systems and Data Flow for COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution and Administration
The paper discusses systems and data flow implications for vaccine allocation, distribution, administration, tracking, and reporting, including a visual depiction ...
State Covid-19 Testing Web Resources
This list contains links to state and territory web resource pages for COVID-19 testing. The web resource pages provide information ...
Nineteenth Annual Intergovernmental Meeting with the U.S. Department of Energy on Nuclear Weapons Waste Cleanup
Virtual Meeting | November 17-18, 2020 The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) hosted the 19th Annual ...
Informing Health Care Workforce Policy by Leveraging Data: A Toolkit for States
By collecting standardized information on licensed health care professionals, states can streamline health care workforce data collection and analysis to ...
Supporting State Behavioral Health Systems During COVID-19 Response and Recovery
This paper identifies for Governors the key issues that are currently challenging state behavioral health systems, along with actions that ...
Governor Strategies to Expand Affordable Broadband Access
Access to high quality, affordable broadband unlocks access to commerce, remote work opportunities, remote and improved education, telehealth, intelligent agriculture, ...
State Resilience Assessment and Planning Tool Demonstration
The SRAP tool is meant to help Governors and their staff assess state resilience, identify gaps, and plan for disasters ...
COVID-19 K-12 SCHOOL OPENING AND CLOSING POLICIES
Summary of Established State Thresholds (View/Download) Introduction As the country continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring high-quality K-12 education ...
PAST NGA CHAIRS INITIATIVES
- 2024-2025
Gov. Jared Polis’s Initiative
Let’s Get Ready! - 2023-2024
Gov. Spencer Cox’s Initiative
Disagree Better - 2022-2023
Gov. Phil Murphy’s Initiative
Strengthening Youth Mental Health - View all…