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

State of the State – 2025

State of the State – 2025

Governors of America's Commonwealths, States and Territories are outlining their priorities for 2025. To showcase their leadership and priorities for the year ahead, the National Governors Association is collecting their ...
Service-to-Career Pathways Advisory Board

Service-to-Career Pathways Advisory Board

As Governors implement their workforce development policy agendas in the face of labor shortages in nearly every sector of the economy, state and national service programs offer a promising strategy ...
Empowering Progress: Harnessing Skills-Based Strategies to Drive Public Sector Excellence

Empowering Progress: Harnessing Skills-Based Strategies to Drive Public Sector Excellence

The public sector plays a key role in advancing skills-based strategies, driven by gubernatorial leadership. Whether in the early stages or more advanced in their adoption of skills-based policies and ...

Let’s Get Ready

All Americans should have access to education that prepares them for success in life. As the world changes and technology evolves, ensuring all students graduate with the skills and knowledge necessary for success is increasingly critical for our nation’s economic competitiveness.

As Governors, we lead states facing economic opportunities but also challenges, shortages in workforce, skills mismatch, and widening opportunity gaps that limit true economic mobility for Americans. We must take these indicators as a call to action.

Program Areas


Center for Best Practices Library

Health Workforce Policy Academy Meeting Building a Transformed Health Care Workforce: Moving from Planning to Implementation

May 19-20, 2014| Washington, D.C. The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices hosted a meeting on May 19-20, 2014, ...

Reducing Prescription Drug Abuse: Lessons Learned from an NGA Policy Academy

As part of the National Governors Association’s (NGA) ongoing effort to help states reduce prescription drug abuse, findings from the ...

The Role of Dental Hygienists in Providing Access to Oral Health Care

Basic oral health is an important determinant of overall health, yet access remains a challenge for many Americans. Dental hygienists ...

Governor’s Guide to Mass Evacuation

Click here to read the Governor's Guide to Mass Evacuation written by the Homeland Security and Public Safety Division of the NGA Center ...

A Governor’s Guide to Early Literacy: Getting all Students Reading by Third Grade

Improving early literacy is essential to increasing high school graduation rates, success in postsecondary education and ensuring states have a ...
2012 Maternal and Child Health Update: The Changing Environment of Medicaid/CHIP Coverage for Children and Improving Birth Outcomes

2012 Maternal and Child Health Update: The Changing Environment of Medicaid/CHIP Coverage for Children and Improving Birth Outcomes

The 2012 Maternal and Child Health (MCH) update presents data gathered by the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best ...
Improving Birth Outcomes in Medicaid

Improving Birth Outcomes in Medicaid

Women who begin their pregnancies in poor health are more likely to have negative birth outcomes than healthy women, according ...

Effect of Provider Payment Reforms on Maternal and Child Health Services

States are actively pursuing reforms to enhance the quality and cost-effectiveness of health care services provided to pregnant women and ...

Building a Civilian Cyber Corps

Whenever a natural disaster strikes a community, dozens, if not hundreds, of volunteers flock to assist in any way they ...
State Sector Strategies Coming of Age: Implications for State Workforce Policymakers

State Sector Strategies Coming of Age: Implications for State Workforce Policymakers

This paper offers a snapshot of sector strategies today, an overview of what makes them different from traditional workforce and ...

The Role of Nurse Practitioners in Meeting Increasing Demand for Primary Care

One way states could increase access to primary care for their residents is to consider easing their scope of practice ...

Improving Preparedness Through Sharing Public Health and Homeland Security Information

Governors can play an active role in improving how state and local agencies work together to produce useful homeland security ...

PAST NGA CHAIRS INITIATIVES