The Western Governors' Association (WGA) is a non-partisan organization of all 22 United States governors (representing 19 U.S. states and 3 U.S. territories) that are considered to be part of the Western region of the nation. The WGA also invites Canadian premiers (the leader of the provincial parliamentary party) of Western Canada to its annual conference. Western Governors University, an autonomous private non-profit online university, was co-founded by Western governors from a plan that originated in WGA meetings in the 1990s.

Mission

The WGA addresses important policy and governance issues in the West, advances the role of the Western states in the federal system, and strengthens the social and economic fabric of the region. WGA develops policy and carries out programs in the areas of natural resources, the environment, human services, economic development, international relations and state governance. WGA acts as a center of innovation and promotes shared development of solutions to regional problems.

Strategies

The WGA takes up issues using six basic strategies:

List of current Western governors

The current chair of the WGA is Republican Mark Gordon of Wyoming and the vice chair is Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico. The premiers of Canada's Western provinces are also typically invited to attend WGA meetings.