The country’s First Spouses gathered in Colorado Springs during the 2025 NGA Summer Meeting to focus on ways Governors and First Spouses can highlight the history of the United States, especially leading up to next year’s celebration of America’s 250th birthday.
At the Summer Meeting, First Spouses spoke with Rosie Rios, Chair of America 250, a nationwide initiative created to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States, focusing especially on the July 4 anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Ms. Rios detailed the initiative’s progress and goals, including commending states and territories for establishing state commissions to commemorate the upcoming anniversary. At the 2024 NGA Winter Meeting, Ms. Rios met with Governors to ask each Governor to help create a state commission to plan, coordinate and support Semiquincentennial activities. By the end of 2024, all 55 states and territories created commissions.
To help illustrate the work state commissions are doing, Jason Hanson, chief creative officer and director of interpretation and research at History Colorado, spoke with First Spouses about Colorado’s work to mark America’s 250th anniversary. Jason shared examples of several initiatives underway in Colorado that are joint efforts with other states as well as program ideas that First Spouses could easily help duplicate in their home states. Examples included “Their Story: America 250,” a storytelling initiative launched to capture and preserve the stories of Americans as well as “Light to Unite,” a campaign encouraging Americans to fly the Stars and Stripes and light up buildings and landmarks in red, white and blue on July 4, 2026.
First Spouses also joined Governors’ staff and NGA Partners for a lunch discussion focused on civics. Colorado First Gentleman Marlon Reis began the lunch session by welcoming eighth grader Cameron Parker, the 2025 Colorado Civics Bee champion, to share why civics education matters and how it changed his life. First Gentleman Reis also welcomed Sharon McMahon, an award-winning educator and host of the podcast Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, noting both speakers offer an “inspiring example of the transformational impact” individuals can have on “our communities and our states” through “creative and energetic civic engagement.”
Sharon McMahon spoke with First Spouses, Governors’ staff and other NGA Summer Meeting attendees about the importance of civic engagement and bipartisan cooperation, sharing examples of several notable Americans – including President Abraham Lincoln, Secretary Norman Mineta and Senator Alan Simpson – whose lives and actions reflect a commitment to bettering the United States while working in civil, bipartisan ways to achieve significant outcomes.
Ms. McMahon encouraged First Spouses and NGA Summer Meeting attendees to find inspiration from the lives of Americans who have worked together to further their goals to better our country while understanding holding respect for others’ beliefs while holding onto one’s deeply held beliefs can serve as “the firm foundation on which solid things can be built.” She also emphasized her belief that history shows individual Americans can take actions – big and small – that help positively shape America’s future, urging attendees to find inspiration from historical figures, especially as the country approaches its 250th anniversary. Ms. McMahon noted the “people who go down in history as the people we would like to be remembered as are the people who actually did the hard thing. They are not the people who have the highest party loyalty […] The people you want to be remembered as, I can promise you, are the people who’ve learned how to work with people they would rather not for the benefit of everyone else.”
Ms. McMahon concluded her remarks with a call to action, stressing “that great Americans are not only people who live on […] You can just do what you can where you are with the resources available to you […] We are meant to be a good people who are good, and we are meant to secure the blessings of liberty, not just to ourselves, but to our posterity.”
