Former U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and former Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb have launched RAISE US, a non-partisan national nonprofit that will partner with governors, employers, workers and training organizations to help the American workforce adapt to an AI-powered economy.
The non-profit said it plans to design and test new corporate incentives to retrain and redeploy workers, develop new approaches to support people through job transitions, and create new training models tied to changing employer demand.
The organization said it will seek funding from private sector and philanthropic partners with a focus on helping workers find and secure good jobs. RAISE US said it aims to raise $1 billion in multi-year commitments and has already secured more than half of that amount. It will operate across four core areas: state partnerships, employer coalition, education and training, and a Policy Lab.
Under state partnerships, the organization said it will work with governors to reorient public workforce and education infrastructure for a shifting labor market. The initiative will initially partner with Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland and Utah.
In practice, the initiative will focus on earn-and-learn apprenticeships and short-term credentials mapped to employer demand, public funding that rewards job outcomes rather than enrolment, incentives that encourage employers to retrain and redeploy workers instead of laying them off, and transition support ranging from wage insurance to career navigation.
RAISE US has formed an employer coalition bringing together AI developers and companies adopting the technology. According to the organization, coalition members will help design and test workforce-transition programs, share insights into how AI is reshaping jobs, and develop policies and initiatives to support workers affected by technological change.
As part of the initiative, the organization said it plans to invest in AI-enabled, work-based training programs aimed at providing affordable, high-quality alternatives to traditional education. It will focus on addressing workforce gaps identified by state governments while supporting both established and emerging training providers.
Through its Policy Lab, the organization said it plans to develop new strategies to support workers through career transitions and encourage employers to retrain and redeploy them. Based on its research, the lab will turn data-driven insights into recommendations for new policies. The organization said the Policy Lab will not receive corporate funding.
Some of the leading technology companies, including Amazon, Anthropic, Microsoft and the OpenAI Foundation, have joined the organization to support the initiative.
“Helping people through the shifts that AI may bring to the economy is one of the most important things to start thinking through now, and the OpenAI Foundation is proud to support RAISE US’ work,” said Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI.
The organization said AI is reshaping work across every sector, while the country’s workforce training and support systems were built for an earlier economy.
“America has a technology strategy for leading the global AI competition. It does not yet have a people strategy and we cannot lead without one,” said Raimondo, who will serve as CEO of the organization.
RAISE US said it aims to help workers affected by technological disruption navigate career transitions and find good jobs.
“AI is going to change the economy in ways that are hard to anticipate. RAISE US is going to build some of the infrastructure we’ll need to navigate AI’s economic impacts, giving us the tools needed to take advantage of its benefits and see and deal with its potential disruptions,” said Jack Clark, co-founder and head of public benefit at Anthropic.
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