SOURCE OF WEALTH: Two Sigma
FUNDING AREAS: Education & STEM Education, Workforce & Society, Arts & Culture
OVERVIEW: David Siegel founded Siegel Family Endowment in 2011 to support organizations and leaders that will understand and shape the impact of technology on society. He co-founded the Scratch Foundation to support Scratch, a block-based programming language and online community for kids. According to available tax filings, the endowment awarded $7.9 million in grants in 2017.
BACKGROUND: Born in the Bronx, David Siegel graduated from Princeton University and received his Ph.D. in computer science from MIT. Siegel was CTO and Managing Director at Tudor Investment Corporation. In 2001, he went on to cofound Two Sigma, a data-driven financial services firm that absorbs large amounts of information to predict the prices of securities.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION & STEM EDUCATION: Siegel cofounded Scratch Foundation to support Scratch, “a block-based programming language and online community for kids that helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively — essential skills for life in the 21st century.” Scratch has become the world’s largest coding community for kids. The nonprofit funds Scratch, ScratchJr., and other efforts.
Siegel co-founded the board of New York City FIRST, and is on the national FIRST board. The mission of FIRST is to “inspire young people to be science and technology leaders and innovators, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills.”
WORKFORCE & SOCIETY: Siegel Family Endowment (SFE) supports organizations working at the intersections of learning, workforce, and infrastructure, championing organizations “whose work contributes to making a world in which all people have the tools, skills, and context necessary to engage meaningfully in a rapidly changing society.” Grantees have included Center on Rural Innovation, an action tank to rebuild rural America; NABU, which disrupts “the cycle of poverty by leveraging technology to publish children’s books for free on digital platforms in mother tongue languages”; Cornell Tech, whose board Siegel chairs; Kahn Academy; Duke University; Harvard Graduate School of Education; and Carnegie Hall, where Siegel is also on the board.
LOOKING FORWARD: Only in his late 50s, Siegel is still very much engaged in business. Perhaps the billionaire family will deepen their giving in the coming years.
LINK: SFE Contact Page
