Blog

On December 19, 2024, America Forward published six transition memos addressed to the incoming Administration highlighting ripe opportunities for the Trump-Vance Administration to advance educational attainment and economic mobility. Many of our recommendations, such as those around FAFSA and skills-based hiring, are ready for action in the first 100 days of the new Administration.

Our recommendations draw upon the deep expertise of the America Forward Coalition, a national network of more than 100 non-governmental social innovation organizations that champion innovative, evidence-based solutions to our country’s most pressing issues in education and economic mobility. The policy recommendations we champion would strengthen the country’s workforce, expand economic mobility, boost social innovation, and invest in the evidence-based solutions we need to meet our country’s evolving economic demands.

In our six transition memos, America Forward makes the following recommendations to advance meaningful policy change and improve outcomes for workers, families, and communities:

• U.S. Department of Labor – Investing in Evidence-Based Workforce Development Strategies: In partnership with Results for America, we recommend redirecting federal workforce funding to evidence-based workforce development approaches, investing in evidence-building, and strengthening implementation to make the best use of government resources and improve economic opportunity. 
• U.S. Department of Labor – Strengthening the Workforce Data Ecosystem: In collaboration with Data Quality Campaign, Credential Engine, Jobs for the Future, and Results for America, we call for the Trump-Vance Administration to address critical data gaps that have slowed improvement and cost-effectiveness across the workforce development system. This effort will build on progress under the first Trump Administration, including the creation of the first national reporting system on Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act program outcomes.
• U.S. Department of Labor – Advance Pay for Success Apprenticeships: Along with America Forward Coalition member Apprenticeships for America, we recommend that the Administration prioritize the use of pay for success financing as a critical means to expand apprenticeships in our nation.
• U.S. Department of Education – Community-Based Postsecondary Innovation: In partnership with the National College Attainment Network (NCAN), we recommend ways the Trump-Vance Administration can prioritize support for community-based innovation that strengthens postsecondary access and success. These include actions in the first 100 days to successfully implement the 2025-26 FAFSA, and longer-term steps to expand postsecondary funding opportunities for non-governmental providers, improve the FAFSA, and expand and strengthen the evidence-based Postsecondary Student Success Grants (PSSG) program.
• U.S. Department of the Treasury – Expansion of the Social Impact Partnerships to Pay for Results Act (SIPPRA) Program: We recommend the expansion of the landmark $100 million SIPPRA pay for success fund. SIPPRA is now ripe for scale-up six years after President Trump originally signed it into law as a demonstration program in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.
• White House, Office of Management and Budget, and Office of Personnel Management – Addressing Skills-Based Hiring: In partnership with Opportunity@Work, we recommend the Trump-Vance Administration prioritize actions to advance implementation of skills-based talent strategies in the federal government within the first one hundred days, building on efforts under the first Trump Administration.

We look forward to opportunities to partner with the incoming Administration and 119th Congress, in collaboration with America Forward Coalition members, to advance these important priorities and strengthen educational and economic opportunity in our nation for all.