NOVEMBER 2026

RAISE US: Who We Are and What We’re Focused On Taking action as a new gubernatorial administration

RAISE US: WHO WE ARE

RAISE US is a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization bringing together government, employers, and educators to make sure that American workers aren’t left behind in the AI economy.
CEO/Co-Chair Gina Raimondo (75^th Governor of Rhode Island and 40^th U.S. Secretary of Commerce) and Co-Chair Eric Holcomb (51^st Governor of Indiana and former Chairman of the Indiana Republican Party) lead RAISE US.
We launched in June 2026: We are executing projects in an initial set of partner states (AR - Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, CT - Gov. Ned Lamont, MD - Gov. Wes Moore, UT - Gov. Spencer Cox), engaging the more than 20 major employers in our corporate coalition on workforce planning and internal redeployment, diligencing our first major postsecondary investments, and sponsoring research to illuminate AI’s impact on the job market.
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THE CHALLENGE: WHY WORKFORCE IS A PRIORITY

AI disruption to the labor market could be more significant than prior technological changes; it threatens careers that had previously been seen as good jobs. No one knows exactly how AI could impact the labor market, but forecasts estimate 6-11M American workers could be displaced (Brookings, Forrester, Goldman Sachs, McKinsey Global Institute).
We’ve lived through the pains of unmanaged labor market shifts before: We can’t afford a repeat of the China Shock. America reorganized our economy around free trade without a plan for displaced workers. In many regions, flawed trade deals hollowed out communities when jobs moved overseas and institutions failed to manage the fallout. Millions of Americans were left behind, and the economic and political consequences still define our country today.
The U.S.’s workforce and education systems are already struggling. Many U.S. workforce training and transition programs are outdated and won’t work for an AI economy. $800B+ is spent annually on postsecondary and workforce systems, but Americans hold $1.8T in student loan debt, more than 30% of undergrads drop out, and 45% are underemployed after graduation.
Employers lack the practices and incentives to retrain and redeploy workers instead of firing and rehiring them…
…and for workers who fall through the cracks, the safety net is broken: Our unemployment-insurance system is nearly a century old, and most states characterize their UI systems as inadequate or “barely functional.”
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THE OPPORTUNITY:

Governors can move quickly when the federal government doesn’t act to pilot new programs and policies that equip workers to thrive in an AI economy. RAISE US brings the public and private sectors together to test new approaches and rapidly scale them to give workers the skills and training they need to get ahead.

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WHAT WE’RE FOCUSED ON: Focus areas for our initial pilot projects include -

1) Ensuring there are strong early-career entry points in an AI economy
- Service as a gateway to careers: Integrating service with career pathways into high-demand sectors like healthcare and education, including multi-state work enabled by NGA's Service United effort
- Expanding employer-led entry points, like apprenticeships and work-based learning programs, that facilitate on-the-job training and broaden opportunities early-career workers
2) Supporting mid-career transitions and accelerating displaced workers’ return to a job
- Additional employer training incentives for redeployment: Incentivizing companies to proactively redeploy talent, retain workers, and avoid or reduce layoffs
- Public workforce system & WIOA innovation: Reimagining how states’ public workforce systems are set up to most effectively serve workers, including use of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funding
- Policy pilots: Pursuing policy-driven innovation (e.g., wage insurance, work-sharing) with state partners and funding capacity for public administration of pilots
3) Executing projects that advance America’s workforce transition at a systems level, including via business formation and job creation.
- Aligning resources to results & outcomes-based funding: Adopting funding models that shift public education and workforce dollars from enrollment toward outcomes
- Workforce intelligence: Helping states deploy tools to inform policy decisions, track effectiveness of their workforce investments, and respond more quickly as conditions change
  
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TAKING ACTION AS A NEW ADMINISTRATION:

Make this a priority: Create a role in your Governor’s Office to coordinate your state’s workforce response to AI, with the authority to integrate actions and approaches across workforce, education, and commerce, along with workforce supports like housing, healthcare, and transportation.
Engage the biggest employers in your state (e.g., CEOs, CHROs) to understand how AI is affecting their workforce planning and emphasize your willingness to work with employers to support the workforce transition.
Get to know how your state supports workforce development. In many states, workforce initiatives are fragmented across higher education, K-12 education, the public workforce system (e.g., WIOA funding), and economic development. Understand where your state’s workforce programs live and evaluate them for this moment:
1. Do they prepare and support workers to secure and sustain high-quality, AI-resilient jobs?
2. Do they direct resources to industry-driven training programs and services that have proven outcomes for workers and result directly in employment?
3. Do they operate under a single mission and strategy that integrates federal and state programs and funding sources and connects to higher ed and the private sector?
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HOW WE WORK: We operate as a hybrid nonprofit, combining grant-making with direct execution alongside our partners.

Our States & Employer teams support state governments and employers by testing ideas with action. Our Postsecondary team also works with innovative higher ed. institutions and other postsecondary training partners to fund and scale alternatives to traditional higher ed.
Our Data team researches how AI is affecting the job market, brings scattered public and private-sector data together into unique insights, and builds tools for governors and policymakers to measure AI’s impact on work.
Our Policy Lab generates new ideas for this moment & helps mold policy concepts into actionable pilots with states and employers.
Forms of support: We give grants; place fellows and embed expertise within our partners; supply operations & program infrastructure to help partners take on strategic initiatives & manage pilot programs; and provide technical assistance to inform program design and implementation.

IN THE NEWS

Discover the Latest AI News

The latest on AI and the workforce: research findings, industry trends, and transition strategies.

Secretary Raimondo Convenes Key Voices to Chart Path Forward for American Workers in an AI Economy

On Monday, RAISE US CEO and Co-Chair, 40th U.S. Secretary of Commerce, and 75th Governor of Rhode Island Gina Raimondo convened senior partners from across the public and private sectors, organized labor, higher education, and philanthropy in Providence, Rhode Island to help prepare American workers for the transition to an AI economy.

Apple, AT&T, the Bezos Family, Google, Walmart Join Secretary Gina Raimondo and RAISE US in Their Mission to Support American Workers in an AI Economy

New commitments support the bipartisan effort led by Secretary Gina Raimondo and Governor Eric Holcomb to help American workers get ahead in an AI economy by designing and running programs and policy experiments in states to address AI-related job dislocation

Why the U.S. Must Simultaneously Compete—and Cooperate—With China on AI

We have learned about security incidents from nearly every major AI company, American and Chinese, built on both open and closed models. The leading AI labs are openly debating whether to pace their frontier model development, and the government is working out what role it plays in that decision.

Become a Pilot partner

Let's Build An America Where AI-Driven Progress Fuels Prosperity

RAISE US partners with states, employers, and educators to ensure American workers can train, transition, and thrive in an economy transformed by AI.

RAISE US is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All donations are tax-deductible.

info@raiseus.ai

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