RAISE US Passes $735 Million for AI-Era Workers. It Is Not a Grant Program You Can Apply To. Here Is How Money Actually Reaches Partners.
November 1, 2026 · 7 min read
Granted Research Team · Editorial policy
Within one week in late October 2026, two separate coalitions announced nearly $1.6 billion in combined commitments for the same problem: helping American workers through the job disruption AI is expected to cause.
The first, All In For Jobs, launched October 26 with more than $800 million from Rockefeller, Google.org, Stand Together, Strada and others, aimed at up to 250 communities. We covered it in All In For Jobs Wants $1 Billion for Workers Facing AI. The second came on October 29. RAISE US, the nonprofit led by former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and former Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, announced that Apple, AT&T, Google, Walmart and the Bezos family had joined its funders, bringing total commitments to more than $735 million toward a goal of $1 billion in multi-year funding.
That is more than $200 million added in the four months since RAISE US launched on June 25, 2026 with over $500 million. Neither coalition has a public application. For workforce organizations, the practical questions are how RAISE US money moves, who it reaches, and what it takes to become one of those partners.
What RAISE US is
RAISE US calls itself a "national, nonpartisan organization partnering with governors, employers, training partners, and workers." It is a registered 501(c)(3). Its leadership is deliberately bipartisan. Raimondo, a Democrat, is CEO and co-chair; she was a two-term Rhode Island governor and oversaw the CHIPS Act's $39 billion in manufacturing incentives as Commerce Secretary. Holcomb, a Republican, is co-chair and launched Indiana's Next Level Jobs program as governor.
The organization frames the problem in two numbers on its website. An estimated 50 million American workers hold jobs vulnerable to AI, and studies from Brookings, MIT, Forrester and Goldman Sachs estimate AI could displace 7 to 11 million workers. Its stated argument is that "America has a technology strategy. It does not yet have a people strategy."
The October backers join launch-era partners, including Amazon, Stand Together and Cognizant, whose executives are quoted on RAISE US's homepage. Per-donor amounts have not been disclosed.
Where the money goes: four program areas
RAISE US describes four "coordinated programs designed to scale what works":
- AI-Ready States. It helps states adopt policies and build infrastructure that connects people to new careers.
- Education and Training. It funds "innovative education models and AI-powered career navigation tools that break traditional cost-quality tradeoffs in training."
- Employer Coalition and Pilots. It partners with employers on earn-while-you-learn programs "so workers facing layoffs can move into stable jobs."
- Policy Lab. It evaluates what works and turns the findings into recommendations for Washington, state capitols and the private sector.
The October announcement fills in specifics:
- Four partner states, launched with their governors: Arkansas (Sarah Huckabee Sanders), Connecticut (Ned Lamont), Maryland (Wes Moore), and Utah (Spencer Cox). These are two Republicans and two Democrats, matching the co-chair arrangement.
- Maryland is expanding Service Year programs to move young workers into AI-resilient fields such as health care and education.
- Arkansas is getting support for Arkansas LAUNCH, a state-built, AI-powered career navigation platform.
- Employer pilots to retrain and redeploy workers within the same company or at other employers.
- Apprenticeships and earn-and-learn programs in advanced manufacturing and health care.
- Safety-net pilots with researchers testing short-time compensation (work-sharing) and wage insurance. This is the least conventional item on the list and probably the most consequential for policy.
- National Governors Association: a $1 million partnership, announced in July, to develop and share state workforce policies. Findings will be presented at the NGA 2027 Winter Meeting, February 18–20 in Washington.
- American Federation of Teachers (September): improving higher-education outcomes for students entering the workforce.
- Idealab.ai (October): expanding access to entrepreneurship resources.
RAISE US versus All In For Jobs
The two coalitions are easy to confuse. They overlap on at least one funder (Stand Together appears in both), and both are reported to be near $1 billion. Their structures differ in ways that matter to anyone seeking money from them.
| RAISE US | All In For Jobs | |
|---|---|---|
| Announced commitments | $735M+ toward $1B | $800M+ toward $1B |
| Lead backers | Corporations: Apple, AT&T, Google, Walmart, Amazon, Cognizant; plus Bezos family, Stand Together | Foundations: Rockefeller, Google.org, McKnight, Strada, AARP Foundation, Stand Together and others |
| Primary unit of partnership | States and employers | Communities |
| Signature levers | State policy, career navigation tech, employer redeployment, wage insurance pilots | Place-based worker support across up to 250 communities |
| Public application | None | None |
The main difference is the unit of partnership. All In For Jobs selects communities. RAISE US works mostly through governors' offices and employers. A local workforce nonprofit would most likely reach All In For Jobs through a community selection. It would reach RAISE US as a subcontractor or training provider inside a state or employer pilot.
What the money is not
Some caution about the headline number.
It is multi-year and undisclosed by donor. "$735 million in commitments" is a pledge total spread across years. Some of it may be in-kind support, employer program spending, or matching commitments rather than cash. RAISE US hasn't published a per-year budget or the cash versus in-kind split.
It is small next to public workforce money. Federal WIOA Title I state grants run at about $3 billion a year. Even at full value spread over five years, RAISE US would be a fraction of public workforce spending. Its leverage comes from changing how states spend their own money, through the Policy Lab, NGA policy work and pilots designed to be copied, not from replacing public funding.
It is not open. RAISE US has "Get Involved" and "Become a Pilot partner" pages, but no published RFP, eligibility criteria or deadlines. Partners so far have been selected and announced, not chosen through competition.
How to get positioned
If you are a state workforce agency or governor's office: RAISE US is clearly recruiting states beyond the first four, and the bipartisan pairing suggests it wants balance. The NGA Winter Meeting, February 18–20, 2027, is where the July partnership's policy findings will be presented, and it is the obvious place to signal interest. States with an existing career-navigation platform, a work-sharing (short-time compensation) program already in law, or a Service Year infrastructure match the current pilots most closely.
If you are a community college or training provider in Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland or Utah: Find out who in your state workforce agency or governor's office owns the RAISE US relationship. Pilot money will reach training providers through those offices. Maryland providers in health care and education pathways should connect with the Service Year expansion. Arkansas providers should make sure their programs are listed and well described in Arkansas LAUNCH, because a career-navigation platform only sends learners to programs it knows about.
If you are an employer-facing intermediary (sector partnership, apprenticeship sponsor, industry association) in advanced manufacturing or health care, you fit the employer-pilot model. RAISE US's language on "redeploying workers within and across employers" describes a workforce intermediary role. Bring a named employer with a concrete redeployment problem, not a general capacity pitch.
If you are a researcher or evaluator: The Policy Lab and the safety-net pilots, wage insurance and short-time compensation, need rigorous evaluation partners. Labor economists and evaluation firms with experience on Trade Adjustment Assistance, work-sharing, or wage insurance demonstrations should get in touch directly.
If you are a community-based workforce nonprofit outside the four states: For now, All In For Jobs is the more likely route because of its community model. Meanwhile, align your outcomes reporting with what both coalitions track: placements in "AI-resilient" occupations, wage gains, and time-to-reemployment for displaced mid-career workers. Both will be looking for evidence that programs work, and organizations that already report those measures will be easier to bring in.
The bigger picture
When corporations announce workforce giving tied to the technology they sell, skepticism is fair. Apple, Google, Amazon and Walmart are among the largest deployers, and in some cases developers, of the AI systems RAISE US is preparing workers for. "The companies that get AI right will be the ones that bring their people with them," Walmart Foundation's Julie Gehrki said in the announcement. That is a business case as much as a charitable one.
For grant seekers the skepticism has a practical side. Corporate-funded coalitions tend to favor employer-defined skill needs and scalable technology platforms over wraparound supports. As our All In For Jobs analysis noted, childcare, transportation and income support during training are what determine whether displaced workers actually finish programs. The safety-net pilots are RAISE US's clearest exception, and the place where its money could most change the field.
What is new in October 2026 is that AI workforce transition now has two near-billion-dollar private coalitions, a governors' policy channel, and corporate backers with an interest in visible results, all within one week. Neither coalition takes unsolicited applications yet. The organizations that benefit will be the ones already working inside state systems and employer partnerships when pilot slots are filled.
Search workforce development, apprenticeship and economic mobility funding from federal, state and private sources in the Granted grants database.