Closing the loop on our inquiry-driven approach means we share what we’re learning. Click on the filters below to explore insights from us and our network.
This whitepaper is a codification of a decade of learning. Not as a definitive model, but as one approach that has been useful for us in practice. It includes what we’ve found to work well, where we’ve struggled, and the kinds of tools and structures we’ve used to support an inquiry-driven orientation in grantmaking.
We sat down with Connect Humanity to learn more about how community-focused internet service providers function; the importance of the U.S. Treasury’s grant to help Connect Humanity become certified as a CDFI; how Connect Humanity’s model has shifted in response to the current funding environment; what the organization is learning about the ripple effect of internet connectivity; the enormous economic growth unleashed by affordable and reliable internet; the role of philanthropy in catalyzing change and piloting new initiatives; and the urgency of finding alternative and sustainable funding sources that spread the costs across an ecosystem of beneficiaries.
Your average computer science major seems to now be the poster child for Gen Z college grads unable to secure the sort of jobs that a decade of “top majors” features promised them. CS has until recently been assumed to be a “safe” major that guaranteed employment, often with a high starting salary in a perks-laden workplace, or equity in a fast-growing startup. A decline in demand for recent graduates has led to headlines suggesting the boom is over, and that AI poses an existential threat to all computer science occupations.
Sohyeon Hwang, PhD is in her second year as a Siegel Research Fellow. Sohyeon serves as a postdoctoral associate at the Center for Information Technology Policy (CITP) at Princeton University, where she studies community-based systems of governance in technologies, including decentralized social media and gig work. We sat down with Sohyeon to learn more about her recent work on inter-community governance processes, how she involves communities in her research, and strategies for overcoming some of the frictions that emerge from coordinating across decentralized social media communities.
With a half century of service under its belt, CitizensNYC is one of the most experienced micro-funding organizations in the country. It provides micro-grants and capacity-building support to New York City neighborhood leaders who are making their communities more connected, resilient, and healthier.
Alexandra Mateescuis in her second year as a Siegel Research Fellow at Data & Society, where she has worked for the last decade. In this Q&A, Alexandra shares her research about the gendered experience of the gig economy; how AI is an extension of existing tools of surveillance and control of workers; and how workers themselves are building power and challenging existing narratives about the promise and peril of technology. We also discuss Alexandra’s new co-authored paperon the underlying dynamics of power, control, and ideology that are shaping AI adoption in the workplace.
SXSW is where we take the temperature of what’s happening in education and innovation and this year, the signal was clear. Across our Public House activations with the Stanford d.school, hundreds of people showed up not just to learn, but to connect, create, and act. Here’s what we built, what we heard, and what it all points to.
Shifting those narratives isn’t just a communications challenge; it’s a question of power. Across regions and sectors, participants described rural places as sites of tech-driven innovation, experimentation, and deep practical knowledge. What is missing is not ingenuity, but the infrastructure, capital, and power of rural leaders to shape how technology shows up in their communities, and how that work is perceived.
Today we’re announcing a partnership with ImpactAlpha to support their Shape the Algorithm beat. The conversation around AI is moving fast. Every day, headlines remind us that the choices we make in technology—what gets built, how it’s governed, who benefits—matter. We’ve long believed that supporting public interest technology and engaging in the future of philanthropy isn’t just about grants. It’s about building the ecosystem that lets good ideas take root, scale, and adapt: capital, governance, knowledge, and strategy.
We believe feedback is essential to continuous improvement. Philanthropy operates within inherent power imbalances, making it all the more important to create structured opportunities for grantees to share honest perspectives about what’s working and what isn’t. We believe feedback serves a dual purpose: it strengthens our relationships with grantee organizations by demonstrating that their voices genuinely shape our practice, and they provide us with the critical feedback we need to evolve our approach.
Siegel’s annual Ask Me Anything webinar is an opportunity for our friends and partners to learn about our plans for the year ahead and ask questions about our work and approach. This year’s event, held virtually on Thursday, February 5th, brought together over 315 attendees.