Meeting the Moment: Derek Kilmer on Renewing the American Dream

Artificial intelligence and other large-scale technological shifts are fundamentally altering the U.S. economy. At the same time, polarization, social disconnection, and the loss of shared spaces and information sources have made it more difficult to bring communities together. Amid all of this change, how can we make sure America moves toward renewal?

In May 2026, The Rockefeller Foundation brought together more than 40 influential leaders to shape a shared vision as our nation approached its 250th anniversary. The America Onward convening focused on three key areas — innovation and entrepreneurship, jobs and community, and faith and connection — to help renew America’s promise, especially for those communities in danger of being left behind.

The convening was led in part by The Rockefeller Foundation’s Senior Vice President of U.S. Programs and Policy Derek Kilmer, who came to the Foundation after serving six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. We spoke to Derek about America Onward, what is needed to reengage people in civic life, and what makes him hopeful for a renewal of the American dream.

Why did the Rockefeller Foundation decide to hold the America Onward convening?

The U.S. is at a unique moment in its history, one that requires leaders from philanthropy, academia, government, the business world, and elsewhere to set a vision for American renewal in a forward-looking way.

To formulate America Onward’s core themes, we looked at where our country has been, the pressures it faces in this moment, and what it could actually take to move the country forward. The goal was to have a broad conversation around issues ranging from democracy and citizenship to technology to America’s history and future.

We had an amazing mix of people with a broad array of perspectives. There were scientists and philanthropists, academics and business leaders, the pastor of a church in Baltimore and the former head of a U.N. agency… There ought to be some sort of scientific equation to describe it. Something like “ An unlikely mix of thoughtful people + important topics = vibrant conversation and interesting ideas.”

What makes The Rockefeller Foundation so well-suited to set this table?

When John D. Rockefeller started the Foundation in 1913, the country was at a moment of disruption. It was the peak of the second industrial revolution, and the U.S. was being remade by railroads, electricity, oil, and the assembly line. Whole industries were being created and communities were breaking. Public health was a mess. Workers had little voice, and the pace of change had outrun every institution built to respond to it.

Today, we’re experiencing another moment of disruption. This time, it seems to be reshaping every part of life, work, and health. The wider world and the institutions we built for the last era are straining to keep up. Our goal with America Onward was to identify practical ideas for helping the country navigate this period of change and emerge stronger.

Then and now, The Rockefeller Foundation has worked in partnership with others to take on projects and challenges that are too large to be undertaken by other entities. That’s been our north star for 113 years. When I think about our secret sauce, two elements really jump out. We build unlikely partnerships, and we believe that the world’s toughest problems are solvable. Put those together, and you get some powerful convenings.

What is at stake in navigating the coming economic and technological changes?

We have a jobs crisis that is hidden in plain sight. Top-line economic numbers may look good, but a third of American counties — home to 50 million people — are economically distressed. Half of the country’s job growth is centered in just over 100 counties. We’re in this position because we haven’t done a great job of managing economic change, and we’re likely to face a new wave of disruption as AI reshapes the labor market.

The AI disruption won’t land where the last one did. De-industrialization hit the factories, and this disruption will hit the offices — especially for knowledge workers and recent graduates trying to start their careers. Our central challenge is helping people navigate economic change rather than being victimized by it. When you fail at that, you get the mill in my hometown. People thought it would last forever, and it’s been a derelict site for 30 years.

You have to give people a reason to believe. In places that are left behind, there’s a deeper sense of polarization, and people have less faith in institutions and democracy, because the systems aren’t working for them. It affects people struggling to put food on the table. It erodes the tax base, leaving less money for local schools and roads. It impacts public health, leading to worse outcomes for everyone.

If we handle this transition badly, we don’t just lose jobs. We lose faith in institutions, expertise, and each other. Those are the stakes. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Philanthropy can identify innovative ideas and fund pilots that prove what works. We can build the data and evidence to inform how to build an economy that works better for people regardless of what zip code they live in and what technological transformation we go through.

What themes did you hear in the conversation among the America Onward participants?

One of the premises of the American dream is that you want your kids to be better off than you were. People are still hopeful for that, but they’re scared about what today’s disruption will mean for the economy and our democracy.

So many participants talked about what the landscape looks like now and how they expect the changes to hit. A singer-songwriter talked about how AI has flooded his industry with content and might make live performance more important. A public health leader spoke about using these new technologies to drive innovation and extend people’s lives. Someone from the business world talked about investing in things that were going to make a lot of money but worrying that it might put lots of people in the U.S. out of work. While participants differed on plenty, there was broad agreement that America needs to make sure technological progress translates into opportunity in more places, not just the ones already thriving.

What does The Rockefeller Foundation’s U.S. strategy look like going forward?

Our biggest bet is a strategy called Good Jobs for America — a $100 million commitment over three years to connect people in communities that are experiencing disruption to good jobs and keep them connected as the economy shifts.

The idea is to test practical solutions, learn what works, and scale successful approaches. For example, millions of jobs go unfilled because of barriers like childcare, transportation, and benefits cliffs. In places like Birmingham, Alabama, they’re making progress by treating those things as part of the job system. We’re backing organizations that are doing crucial under-the-hood work. The organization Invest in Our Future, for example, has unlocked more than $27 billion for energy projects across 45 states that focus on things like permitting and workforce development. And we’re working to modernize how the country responds to AI disruption. The policy levers that matter most are largely at the state level. How do we work with partners to rethink how to spend the $800 billion a year that goes into post-secondary education? How do we modernize an unemployment system that was built for 1920s factory layoffs? How do we support efforts to use AI itself to make government work better for its citizens?

Over time, the strategy aims to help create approximately 1.6 million good jobs nationwide, uplift 250 distressed communities, and benefit millions more people through stronger local economies, more stable employment, and greater confidence in the future. We won’t do that alone. It will happen with partners in philanthropy, private industry, and government — some of the sectors that were present at the America Onward convening.

What makes you hopeful that America will move towards renewal?

The thread running through all of this is that big forces are colliding with institutions that weren’t built for them. When it comes to the economy, health, and the global state of affairs, it’s easy to assume the story’s already written, but it isn’t.

Disruption is usually told as a tale of loss: what got shipped overseas, what got automated, and what’s not coming back. That may be part of the truth, but it isn’t all of it. The other part is what I saw over 12 years in Congress and see now in this role. It’s a laid-off paralegal in her 50s starting her own business. It’s a veteran who has fresh food alongside his medication and is seeing his blood pressure go down. It’s a kid in a village in Africa, doing her homework at night by a light that wasn’t there a year ago.

We’re in a moment when philanthropy, government, business, and the nonprofit world have to work together. We can solve the world’s most pressing problems as partners more effectively than any of us could do on our own.

In a time of uncertainty, Derek sees possibility. “The future we get is a choice, and good choices are made by testing, learning, and partnering,” he said. “That’s the bet that Rockefeller has made for 113 years, and it’s the bet we’re making now.”

Learn More:

• Watch Derek Kilmer discuss The Rockefeller Foundation’s $100 million Big Bet to help U.S. communities connect people to good jobs and adapt to rapid economic and technological change.
• Read Derek Kilmer’s article in Fortune Magazine about ensuring that job growth reaches all American communities.
• Read about The Rockefeller Foundation’s Good Jobs for America strategy.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author. The Rockefeller Foundation is not responsible for and does not endorse its content.