As the United States marks its 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026, New America’s Us@250 initiative aims to celebrate the nation’s progress, reckon with its problematic past, and spark conversations about the future of America. The initiative provides a unifying framework for the semiquincentennial, hosts an annual fellowship, and conducts a national event series to bring people together across differences.

Tax credits and government benefits can only help low-income Illinoisans if they receive them. Lack of access to technology, poor delivery systems, and other barriers often keep our lowest-income neighbors from getting the help they already qualify for and need the most. The Get My Payment Illinois Coalition is a group of nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping residents access free tax filing help, 530A child investment accounts (Trump Accounts), Child Tax Credits, Earned Income Tax Credits, and affordable bank accounts.

Between 2020 and 2022, the coalition helped over 220,000 people learn how to receive their pandemic stimulus checks and a variety of tax credits, as well as access BankOn accounts. Working with government and nonprofit partners, including libraries, social service agencies, and food pantries, we shared critical information to connect low-income residents with payments through social media, ads, and in-person events. Our insights from working directly with community members, helped inspire major policy improvements. New America Chicago is a founding member of this coalition, which was revived in 2025 to help low-income, Illinois families access free tax preparation help.

Visit the coalition’s website at getmypaymentillinois.org to learn how to file for tax credits, get a child investment account, and find guidance on safe, affordable banking products.

Geostrategic Competition examines how economic, technological, and security dynamics are reshaping global power and statecraft. The initiative studies the influence of emerging economies, financial markets, critical resources, and emerging technologies on geopolitical competition and global governance. By analyzing these trends and convening experts, we provide policymakers, scholars, and civil society with insights on mitigating risks, promoting cooperation, and adapting institutions to a rapidly evolving global landscape.

Teaching, Learning & Tech advances policies and practices that help educators, technologists, and researchers design and use technology to strengthen learning for young people. We take a human-centered approach to understanding and addressing the needs of all learners in a rapidly evolving digital age—from early childhood through postsecondary pathways.

We center and elevate the voices of students, families, educators, community leaders, and practitioners whose lived experience and professional expertise inform how technology can meaningfully support teaching and learning. Their insights guide our research, policy recommendations, and design of responsive tools and resources.

Our build4good initiative pairs higher ed students with mission-driven organizations to build tools addressing real community needs—expanding local capacity and creating pathways to building for social impact.

The Future Security Scenarios Lab at New America helps decision makers navigate accelerating technological change, geopolitical volatility, and mounting global risks by integrating advanced foresight tools with insights from decision theory. Using scenario planning, forecasting, strategic simulations, and systems analysis, the Lab examines how cognitive biases, mental models, and human judgment shape national security outcomes, equipping leaders to anticipate emerging challenges, stress-test assumptions, and design more resilient strategies for an uncertain world.

Grounded in a mission that spans AI and nuclear futures, internal force multiplication across New America, and broader field building, the Lab explores how technologies and shifting power dynamics interact with the cognitive foundations of security. By pairing structured foresight with an understanding of how decisions are actually made under uncertainty, the Lab democratizes security thinking, cultivates a diverse community of practitioners, and delivers actionable insights that help policymakers respond with clarity, agility, and confidence.

The Future of Work & Innovation Economy initiative (FOWIE) at New America advances policy solutions and practice change at the intersection of workforce, economic development, and emerging technology ecosystems to strengthen and expand the American middle class.

We envision an economy that creates family-sustaining jobs, provides clear pathways into them, and uses emerging technologies to improve the quality of human work.

We organize our work around three pillars:

• Regional Innovation Ecosystems & Economic Renewal: Foster policies and practices that grow regional innovation ecosystems in areas of economic stagnation, decline, or at the risk of being left behind amidst technological change.
• Workforce Pathways & the Innovation Economy: Support policies & practices changes that expand affordable and reliable workforce pathways as technological innovation and diffusion change labor markets.
• Workers & Technology: Advance approaches that encourage collaboration among workers, technologists, and employers in shaping the future of AI and emerging technologies.