James Siegal

As we speak (type?), presenting these findings and highlighting our partnership with M-NCPPC/Prince George's County Parks...

Thanks to the CDC Foundation for the opportunity to share this work!

cdcfoundation.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Counting Play: How KABOOM! Uses Crowdsourced Mobile GPS Data to Understand Playground Use - KABOOM! Playgrounds are more than just places for kids to have fun—they are critical community spaces that contribute to health, well-being, and social connection. Decision-makers need…

Check out this groundbreaking work by my trailblazing colleague @isaac-outcomes.bsky.social, transforming the way playground usage is counted and using these data and insights to accelerate our @kaboom-play.bsky.social efforts to advance playspace equity.

kaboom.org/all-stories/...

Brown University advises all international community members to postpone, reconsider travel One week before spring break, Brown advised international community members, including green card holders and permanent residents, to postpone international travel in a campus-wide email sent on Sunda...

Chilling report from Brown University.

Administration advises all foreign students, staff, and faculty to postpone or reconsider (ie cancel) international travel, due to federal government's crackdown on universities.

Brown also warns against *domestic travel* -since it's unclear what ICE will do.

Open Philanthropy Launches $120 Million Fund To Support YIMBY Reforms The new fund seeks to ease regulatory barriers to construction and growth, putting the so-called abundance movement under the umbrella of effective altruism.

Love focus on infrastructure policy. Hope effort goes beyond housing & explores incentivizing investment in social infrastructure (parks/playgrounds, libraries, etc) every community needs to be happy/healthy/safe/cohesive.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article... @kristoncapps.bsky.social @bloomberg.com

Terrific @chronphilanthropy.bsky.social op-ed by @jacobharold.bsky.social w/ 5 tips for climate funders.
Spend now
Rethink existing structures
Show trust
Stop bickering
Consider whole picture

I'd add a 6th to fend off despair: Support achievable proof points.

www.philanthropy.com/article/how-...

We walk for peace.
We work so children can play.
We know those closest to the problem are actually the best solution.
@chicagocred.bsky.social

This data is stark. That's why my colleagues turned this around less than two weeks after survey close -- and got it out into the world today. Funders: this is what nonprofits are experiencing and what they're looking for from you all. cep.org/wp-content/u...

Careers - KABOOM! We pride ourselves on working hard, playing hard, and living our values every day. Join us to make a difference in the lives of kids across the country.

Spent last 3 days in our annual @kaboom-play.bsky.social staff retreat. So grateful to work with colleagues who bring joy to our very serious efforts to address playspace inequity. Play isn't the opposite of work, but of despair. If you're seeking joyous struggle, join us: kaboom.org/about-kaboom...

Welcome! Exciting news!

This book should be at the top of everyone’s reading list.

Thrilled to receive my copy of Laysha Ward’s new book Lead Like You Mean It. I had the very good fortune of crossing paths with Laysha multiple times in my career, from Independent Sector to AmeriCorps to KABOOM!. In each case, I benefited from her wise counsel & learned from her wonderful example.

Congress agrees on one thing: Expanding access to the outdoors How the EXPLORE Act, a bill aimed at improving outdoor recreation opportunities, managed to pass with unanimous support.

Amidst the daily chaos, division, and dehumanization, it is important to lift up and celebrate the things that we can/should all agree on, like making sure every kid has the opportunity to play and experience the joys of childhood.

grist.org/looking-forw...

MacKenzie Scott has donated $19 billion. The impact? 'Transformational,' new study says As part of her divorce settlement with Jeff Bezos in 2019, MacKenzie Scott pledged to donate half of her wealth - about $38 billion - to charities.

Luckily there are trailblazing exceptions like MacKenzie Scott: www.usatoday.com/story/money/....

MacKenzie Scott has donated $19 billion. The impact? 'Transformational,' new study says As part of her divorce settlement with Jeff Bezos in 2019, MacKenzie Scott pledged to donate half of her wealth - about $38 billion - to charities.

Simple answer: no. More complex answer: Nonprofits often step into the breach to address a market failure, where the funder is not the beneficiary. Too many funders then provide partial funding & place unwarranted restrictions on overhead costs instead of paying for the value the nonprofit provides.

Amazing additions for an urgent cause -- putting kids first.

kaboom.org/press-releas...

Thanks, @philxbuchanan.bsky.social @gracenicolette.bsky.social @kmbolduc.bsky.social & team for your always-insightful work and invaluable contribution to the field of philanthropy!

“It’s surprising to me that this approach continues to not be fully embraced because we should trust our leaders who are living and breathing this work, are so close to the problem, and are best equipped to solve it.”

5 Things We Just Learned About MacKenzie Scott’s Giving A study by the Center for Effective Philanthropy reveals the profound impact of MacKenzie Scott’s unrestricted grants on hundreds of nonprofits.

Another terrific CEP report about MacKenzie Scott's transformative giving. As our @kaboom-play.bsky.social CEO Lysa Ratliff told @chronphilanthropy.bsky.social, "It allowed us to move into what we needed to do to have a path to achieving our mission."

www.philanthropy.com/article/5-th...

Termination notices going out this afternoon to more than 300 employees of the National Cancer Institute. Access likely ends today. Four weeks paid leave and that’s it.

Strong power move for Team Cancer.

How Oakland is mobilizing for kids - Project Play Oakland’s passion for sports was recognized by the Aspen Institute in  “State of Play Oakland,”  the 11th community report from our Project Play initiative. Two data points stood about abo...

@aspeninstitute.bsky.social’s State of Play Oakland built a case that has helped Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, @kaboom-play.bsky.social, Oakland Unified School District and others give thousands of kids equitable access to great new schoolyards for active play.

projectplay.org/news/how-oak...

I wrote about how Doge is involved in cutting cancer research

www.vanityfair.com/news/story/d...

How Funders Can Respond to an Unprecedented Threat to Nonprofits | The Center for Effective Philanthropy The Trump administration’s hostility for and threat to the nonprofit sector is clear; how should funders respond?

The White House memo of Friday is an astonishing assault on nonprofits. But we are not powerless. Institutional funders are definitely not powerless. My post, just up this morning. cep.org/blog/how-fun...

1. Today the NIH director issued a new directive slashing overhead rates to 15%.

I want to provide some context on what that means and why it matters.

grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

BREAKING: We’re suing the Trump administration for refusing to issue passports with accurate sex designations for transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people.

This action violates the Constitution.

Now is the Time to Lay the Foundation for Long-Term Civic Resilience | The Center for Effective Philanthropy Regardless of where you fund, don’t leave youth voices out of the conversation: now more than ever it's critical to systematically listen.

Appreciated my terrific colleague David McKinney’s call for us to focus on young people in this moment: cep.org/blog/now-is-...

Foundations Remain Largely Mute as Nonprofits Face Slashed Federal Funding Most large private foundations have been slow to respond to the Trump administration’s policy changes affecting nonprofits. Bloomberg Philanthropies is the one exception.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy reached out to more than a dozen major foundations — most with assets exceeding $1 billion — for this story. Some responded, but most declined to provide statements on the record.
phlnthrp.com/4aQakDZ

Trump’s new ban on trans athletes is latest attack on transgender policies President Donald Trump signed an executive order that aims to ban trans athletes from women’s sports, the latest shake-up for schools navigating the new rules.

There are more anti-trans bills than there are trans athletes. This is a solution in search of a problem. A villain for the GOP to distract Americans from the fact Musk is stealing all of our money.

www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

JUST IN: Judge Lamberth has blocked the Trump administration from enforcing provisions of Trump executive order that would require moving transgender inmates from women's to men's prisons.

ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show...

Nonprofits Dependent on Federal Grants Scramble Amid Mixed Signals From White House and Federal Judge A federal judge extended a block on Trump’s rescinded federal funding freeze, citing evidence from nonprofits that they were shut out of funding portals or denied critical resources. Some nonprofit le...

Despite Judge Loren AliKhan's order, some nonprofits leaders say the fight to keep federal payments rolling in has just begun. phlnthrp.com/40Ik3aK

CDC Data Are Disappearing The agency has already removed scientific data from public view. More could follow.

This is how autocrats throughout history have endangered the people they govern by erasing factual information vital to health and well being
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...