Work for America Selects 10 Cities for Data-Driven Hiring Program
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Sophie McGrath, Work for America, press@workforamerica.org
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Ten cities, including Baltimore, Los Angeles, and Nashville, named as participants in WFA's second Talent Accelerator cohort to improve city hiring processes
BROOKLYN, NY — Work for America (WFA) today announced the selection of 10 cities for its second Talent Accelerator workshop, Data-Driven Hiring for Cities. Over eight weeks, cities will examine how their hiring data is collected, managed, and used, and will leave with defined priority hiring metrics, specified data practice improvements, and recommendations for leadership outlining their findings. The program runs from October 13 through December 15, 2026.
Cities were selected from a competitive applicant pool of municipalities nationwide. The participating 10 cities for the Fall 2026 cohort include:
Baltimore, MD
El Paso, TX
Erie, PA
Jackson, TN
Little Rock, AR
Los Angeles, CA
Nashville, TN
Pompano Beach, FL
San Francisco Human Services Agency (SFHSA)
St. Louis, MO
WFA’s Talent Accelerator programs are free, virtual workshops that help city HR and operations teams make practical, near-term improvements to their hiring systems. Selection to the cohort recognizes each city’s commitment to investing in the systems that deliver for their communities by strengthening data-informed decision making.
“There is no shared standard for excellent government hiring,” said Caitlin Lewis, Executive Director of Work for America. “These 10 cities will use existing data to set clear hiring metrics, track their progress, and take the first step toward a national baseline other cities can rally around.”
The Data-Driven Hiring for Cities workshop follows WFA’s inaugural Talent Accelerator workshop, Transforming City Hiring Processes, where participating cities mapped their end-to-end hiring processes, identifying bottlenecks and delays. Based on findings from the inaugural cohort, WFA developed a free toolkit that any government HR or operations team can use to pilot fixes that speed up hiring and improve the candidate experience.
Access Built to Hire: A Process Mapping Toolkit for Government Hiring Teams here.
Cities interested in future Talent Accelerator cohorts can fill out an interest form here.
About Work for America
Honored by Fast Company as one of 2026 World’s Most Innovative Companies, Work for America is a nonpartisan nonprofit rebuilding the talent pipeline into state and local government. Work for America connects talented professionals to public sector roles, helps governments modernize how they recruit and hire, and inspires the next generation of public servants to see government as the most powerful place to drive progress. By expanding pathways into government and telling a new story about public service, Work for America is helping communities build the teams they need to deliver results.
Work for America has been recognized by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and TIME. Read more here.
