The Quiet Work Shaping Tomorrow
From The Siegel Times, a special edition of our Year in Review, President and Executive Director Katy Knight examines the blueprints, partnerships, and strategies behind 2025’s most under-covered success stories.
Learning
Read MoreThe Quiet Work Shaping Tomorrow
Our 2025 Year in Review
Introducing The Siegel Times: our 2025 Year in Review, inspired by the look and feel of a classic news magazine and grounded in the work we’ve built together this year. More than a retrospective, this special report brings together feature stories from grantees, letters from leadership, and a clear record of what we’ve accomplished collectively—alongside playful, interactive moments designed to put the buzzwords of 2025 to rest and refocus on what actually matters. It’s a snapshot of a year defined not by hype, but by shared effort, learning, and progress.
Computational Thinking: The Durable Skill We’re Overlooking?
Grantmaking Manager Evan Trout contributes a guest post this #CSEdWeek exploring a key gap in how we talk about “durable skills.” While communication and problem-solving often take center stage, one essential skill is still missing from the conversation: computational thinking (CT). In his piece, Evan breaks down why CT is foundational to young people’s learning today—and why it will matter even more in the future.
A Surprising Obstacle to the Adoption of Innovative School Models
We sat down with Brent Maddin of the Next Education Workforce Initiative at ASU, and George Vinton and Kelly Anguiano of Common Group to learn more about the role that administrative systems play in whether, when, and how schools choose to adopt innovative models; the ways in which these technological systems could be redesigned to help facilitate innovation; and the opportunities for both the supply side and the demand side of the market to develop solutions for making administrative systems in K-12 education more flexible.
2025 Q1 Events Recap
We may be a small team, but our reach is mighty. Over the past quarter, we’ve traveled across the country and around the globe to seek out new perspectives, fresh solutions, and burgeoning insights that will shape our work in 2025.
Siegel Family Endowment Awards Over $16.3 Million to Strengthen Workforce Innovation, Infrastructure, and Philanthropy
Our latest grants reaffirm our commitment to building a more inclusive technological future by supporting comprehensive research, shaping human-centered policies, and fostering community-driven innovation to ensure these advancements benefit everyone.
Announcing the Phase 2 Learning Landscape Winners
Siegel Family Endowment and the Walton Family Foundation are thrilled to announce five Phase 2 winners that will receive $200,000 each and advance to the Phase 3 incubator in the Learning Landscapes Challenge. These winners emerged from an exceptional cohort of 40 Phase 2 accelerator teams with transformative visions for K-12 educational infrastructure.
Black-oriented EdTech and public interest technology: a framework for accessible and ethically designed technology for K-12 students
Read new Siegel In-House Research Fellow Symon Campbell's latest publication in Journal of Integrated Global STEM analyzing three K-12 Black-oriented EdTech platforms developed by Black women—KaiXR, Reconstruction, and TunTimo—leverage public interest technology principles to address educational inequities and counter racial biases in mainstream EdTech.
A strong digital infrastructure is crucial to creating jobs in rural America
Featured on Working Nation's Work in Progress podcast, Josh Elder, vice president and head of grantmaking for Siegel Family Endowment, discusses the importance of tech connectivity in creating access and opportunity to jobs in rural America and the overall impact technology is having on society, education, and the way we do our jobs.
Adaptability and Pragmatism: Our H1 Reflections
It’s so easy to get caught up in the grind at this midpoint of the year. At Siegel, we’ve been immersed in pushing our grantmaking forward and executing the strategy refresh we designed and rolled out at the beginning of the year.
Siegel in Forbes: Navigating Uncertainty About AI In Education By Leaning On What Works
In a moment when research suggests that more than two-thirds of parents believe the benefits either equal or potentially outweigh the drawbacks and 72% of students want guidance on how to responsibly use generative AI for schoolwork, we should be wrestling with not whether but how technology can play a role in preparing young people for an increasingly dynamic world.
The Symbiotic Role of Student and Education Journalists in the Information Ecosystem
After attending the Education Writers Association’s 2024 National Seminar, Siegel External Engagement Associate Ellery Wong shares her insights on how student journalism can strengthen the broader information ecosystem.