26 February 2018: Future Now and SDG USA have launched ‘America’s Goals for 2030,’ a collaborative initiative to adapt the SDGs to the US context, and to offer a “non-partisan framework for progress.” The project includes seven goals accompanied by targets, adapted from the SDGs.
The project’s goals are: good jobs (goal 1); affordable quality health care (goal 2); investing in children (goal 3); empowering people over special interests (goal 4); equal opportunity for all (goal 5); sustainable infrastructure, resilience and innovation (goal 6); and clean air, water and energy (goal 7). Each goal is accompanied by targets such as paid family, vacation, and sick leave for 100% of jobs (goal 1), and path to higher education, including technical training, without debt for 100% of students (goal 3).
Candidates and officials in all 50 US states have pledged to advocate for achieving the goals and targets by 2030.
America’s Goals for 2030 is based on the premise that success requires society to act on all levels, with leadership by government, business and labor, faith groups, advocacy organizations and others. It invites stakeholders to sign a pledge to achieve the goals. Future Now reports on its website that candidates and elected officials from all 50 US states have signed the pledge to advocate for the goals, and will work to achieve their targets in their state by 2030 or sooner.
The SDG USA website includes a mapping that shows how the US and its states currently perform on some of the targets. It reports, for example, that: 40 million people lived in poverty in the US in 2015-2016; only 32% of four-year-olds are enrolled in pre-kindergarten; and in 2015, African Americans earned 75% as much as whites, and women earned 83% as much as men. The project also includes a report card that ranks every state on progress toward America’s Goals.
The America’s Goals is a project from Future Now and SDG USA. Future Now is a non-profit organization that seeks to improve the US through action at the State level. The organization invests in candidates committed to standing up to special interests and achieving the goals to make their state “the best place on earth to live, work, and raise a family.” It was founded by: Jeffrey Sachs, Columbia University; Daniel Squadron, member of the New York State Senate from 2008 to 2017; and Adam Pritzker, co-founder and chairman of Assembled Brands, and of General Assembly, a global network of campuses providing educational and professional development training.
SDG USA is a non-profit organization that encourages all citizens, businesses, civil society organizations, and governments at all levels to promote America’s Goals for 2030 in order to address pressing economic, social and environmental challenges at the national level. The organization seeks to promote practical problem solving through goal-base policies, grassroots organizing, policy research, social entrepreneurship, and consensus building. [Future Now Website] [SDG USA Website] [America’s Goals Website] [Report Card] [Mapping of how the US and its States Stack up on some Targets] [Presentation of America’s Goals for 2030 during MSNBC Discussion with Jeffrey Sachs]