OKLAHOMA CITY – Newly elected NGA Chair Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and outgoing NGA Chair Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt closed out the 2026 NGA Summer Meeting Saturday by highlighting the major priorities, policies and initiatives that will guide NGA’s work in the coming year.
Moore Elected National Governors Association Chair, Launches “Service United” Campaign
Gov. Moore was elected chair of NGA, taking the helm of the bipartisan organization that represents governors across 50 states and 5 territories. Under Gov. Moore as chair, the NGA announced its Campaign for America, which will work across party lines to strengthen and restore civic bonds. The campaign’s foundational pillar, “Service United,” is Gov. Moore’s signature initiative, launching with $10 million in philanthropic support to kickstart its efforts.
Gov. Moore plans to use his role as chair to help define a new era for NGA – one that is more focused on bipartisan, state-led solutions. Moore’s election comes as 39 gubernatorial elections are scheduled for this November, with more than 20 new governors expected to take office early next year.
To mark the launch of “Service United,” NGA invited former NGA chair Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchison to moderate two “Reflections on Service” panel discussions with outgoing Govs. Laura Kelly (Kansas), Tim Walz (Minnesota), Kevin Stitt (Oklahoma) and Mark Gordon (Wyoming). The conversations focused not only on the leaders’ time serving as governors, but also on the ways service positively impacts life, leadership and career.
New NGA Leadership
With Gov. Moore’s election, NGA also announced Indiana Gov. Mike Braun as vice chair/chair-elect. Gov. Braun will join Gov. Moore to lead the executive committee that guides NGA’s priorities and activities. The newly named governors who will serve on the 2026-2027 NGA executive committee include:
- Hawai‘i Gov. Josh Green, M.D.
- Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry
- Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy
- North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein
- Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt
- Utah Gov. Spencer Cox
- Vermont Gov. Phil Scott
NGA Hosts NBC “Common Ground” Town Hall
NGA partnered with NBC News to host its first-ever governors’ “Common Ground” town hall. The event brought together governors from across the aisle for a national media event to discuss the issues that matter most to Americans.
Held as part of the NBC News Common Ground series, the program featured “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker in conversation with four bipartisan governor pairings:
- Gov. Stitt and Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer kicked off the town hall with a conversation about keeping the American Dream strong through innovation, energy and permitting reform.
- Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox spoke about supporting education, student achievement and opportunity.
- North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott came together to discuss federalism principles and the balance of power.
- Govs. Moore and Stitt joined Tim Shriver, Co-Founder of UNITE.Us, Chair of Special Olympics International, and Founding Chair of the Center for Dignity in Politics, for a conversation about restoring civility to political discourse.
NGA Launches Center for Dignity in Politics
Following the Common Ground town hall held with NBC, NGA announced the launch of the Center for Dignity in Politics, an initiative that will equip governors with the tools, training and resources to strengthen democratic culture, reduce political polarization and model respectful public leadership. Co-created with Dignity.Us, the center will serve as a trusted, bipartisan resource for governors who are seeking to elevate the language, practice and culture of dignity in public leadership. NGA CEO Brandon Tatum will serve as the president of the center, and Dignity Index co-creator Tim Shriver will serve as the founding chair. The Ibis Group is the founding supporter of the Center for Dignity in Politics.
As part of the center’s work, NGA is also partnering with Matter Neuroscience to relaunch The Party Line project, an initiative that connects two public phones in different U.S. cities to invite real conversations between strangers. The project is designed to create a direct, unmediated human encounter between strangers who are separated by geography, culture and presumed politics, offering a unique opportunity to examine how curiosity, dignity and human connection can emerge from political division. NGA will continue to draw insight from the conversations to inform the center’s programming; the project will relaunch later this year.
NGA, Bipartisan Policy Center Partner to Create American Opportunity Project
NGA Chief Executive Officer Brandon Tatum and Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) President and Chief Executive Officer Margaret Spellings announced the launch of the American Opportunity Project (AOP). NGA and BPC partnered to launch the project as a joint initiative to produce a menu of bipartisan policy options that puts America’s fiscal trajectory on a sustainable path while expanding economic opportunity for the next generation of workers and families. The project will produce a governing framework for how America invests, modernizes, and pays for its future across federalism, the tax code, entitlements, and fiscal sustainability.
NGA, RAISE US Announce Partnership to Support AI and the Future of Work in States
During a panel discussion held between Gov. Moore, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, and RAISE US co-founders former U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and former Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, NGA announced a $1 million partnership with RAISE US — a national non-profit organization that partners with states, employers, workers, and educators to build workforce infrastructure that supports and trains workers to thrive in an AI economy — to promote state AI policy development.
NGA’s new partnership with RAISE US will identify and amplify new policy models that help states design and pilot new corporate incentives to retrain and redeploy workers, support people through job transitions, and develop training models tied to real employer demand. The findings will be shared during NGA’s 2027 Winter Meeting, which will take place Feb. 18-20, 2027, in Washington, D.C.
NGA Leads Meetings with Federal Officials, Including Secretary Mullin and Administrator Oz
Governors met with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin who joined governors for a fireside chat moderated by Gov. Stitt. Governors engaged in a discussion with Secretary Mullin on several priority issues, including state-federal coordination, disaster relief, cybersecurity, immigration and drones.
NGA also welcomed Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz for a discussion about advancing the Rural Health Transformation Program and addressing Medicaid program integrity in states. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee facilitated the wide-ranging conversation in a fireside chat held with the administrator.
The multi-day Summer Meeting also included a meeting of the Council of Governors, the 10-member federally established body instituted to work with federal officials to address issues relating to the National Guard, national security, homeland defense, and disaster preparedness, response and recovery. The governors met with federal leaders representing the National Guard Bureau, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Defense Department on topics including: strategic guidelines for the Defense Fiscal Year 2027 Program Build, state-federal coordination and consultation on disaster response, National Guard organizational updates, and state-federal coordination on the domestic threat from Unmanned Aircraft Systems.
NGA Commends Gov. Stitt and Bipartisan Work to Reignite the American Dream
NGA recognized the progress made through the work of outgoing chair Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt’s year-long “Reigniting the American Dream” initiative that launched in 2025 to advance education, cultivate entrepreneurship, and promote more sustainable and secure energy systems.
As chair, Gov. Stitt championed bipartisan efforts to equip every learner, to promote innovation and economic mobility, and to power America’s future. The year’s work culminated at the Summer Meeting with:
- The release of a documentary featuring governors alongside business leaders like Mark Cuban sharing obstacles and opportunities they encountered in their only-in-America paths to success. The documentary can be viewed on the Reigniting the American Dream YouTube channel.
- The release of a playbook highlighting forward-looking energy policies. Titled “Ensuring America’s Energy Leadership: A State Roadmap for Energy Security, Economic Growth, and Grid Resilience,” the playbook highlights policy solutions to accelerate permitting reform, deliver reliable power for a growing economy and strengthen energy security.
- Gov. Stitt started the Governors Compact on Entrepreneurship, which aims to unleash a new generation of entrepreneurs by identifying a variety of ways governors can make entrepreneurship a priority their states and territories. Signed by more than 25 governors, the compact is inspired by an executive order Gov. Stitt signed in January.
Governors Reflect on Service at Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum
On the final day of the Summer Meeting, Gov. Moore joined outgoing NGA Chair Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox for a tour of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. The memorial honors “those who were killed, those who survived, and those changed forever” by the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
During the visit, the governors learned about the Oklahoma Standard, which grew from the outpouring of community support following the bombing. Rooted in acts of service, honor and kindness, the Oklahoma Standard has since become a statewide initiative dedicated to preserving and promoting a culture of caring citizens.
NGA Holds Discussion Highlighting Leadership and Service of Nation’s First Spouses
At the first-of-its-kind first spouse panel convened by NGA, Anita McBride, director of the First Ladies Initiative at American University and former chief of staff to first lady Laura Bush, moderated a discussion with Oklahoma first lady Sarah Stitt, Maryland first lady Dawn Moore, North Carolina first lady Anna Stein and Utah first lady Abby Cox.
The panelists highlighted the unique role first spouses have in public life, unpacking ways they serve alongside governors and use their platforms to advance initiatives that help their constituents realize the American Dream.
More information about the sessions held at the NGA Summer Meeting can be found on NGA’s website, and Summer Meeting videos can be viewed on NGA’s YouTube channel.
