Gross National Happiness is also promoted in the United States by a nonprofit organization, Gross National Happiness USA. Headquartered in Vermont, GNHUSA is a 501c(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization with a mission to increase personal happiness and the collective wellbeing by changing how the United States measure their progress and success. GNHUSA was founded after Linda Wheatley of Montpelier, Vermont, attended the 2008 Annual Gross National Happiness Research Conference in Thimphu, Bhutan. Wheatley returned to Vermont determined to introduce the little-known GNH concepts to the general public in the U.S. After establishing the nonprofit in the spring of 2009, representatives of the group attended the fifth international GNH research conference in Brazil in November 2009 and, in June 2010, hosted the first US-based conference on Gross National Happiness and other alternative indicators, at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont. In May 2012, GNHUSA with co-sponsors organized Measure What Matters, a conference building a collaborative of data experts in Vermont. The state of Vermont's Governor declared April 13 (President Jefferson’s birthday) “Pursuit of Happiness Day,” and became the first state to pass legislation enabling development of alternative indicators and to assist in making policy. GNHUSA collaborates with the Vermont Data Center to perform a periodic study of well-being in the state, as a pilot for other states and municipalities. The organization also collaborates closely with the Happiness Alliance in collecting online GNH data, based on the domain of happiness developed by Bhutan. In 2017, GNHUSA initiated the process of establishing chapters in all 50 states to work with local governments and institutions on well-being initiatives, beginning with Wisconsin and North Carolina.