The National Council on Problem Gambling is hiring a director of strategy for its Financial Services & Trading Initiative, a new role that appears designed to expand its work around trading products and prediction markets.
The job posting comes as the NCPG continues to build out its Financial Trader Health and Safety Initiative, which launched in June. The initiative followed Kalshi’s decision to join the council in May.
It also comes just days after the Michigan Gaming Control Board said it was leaving the organization, underscoring the tension that has built around Kalshi’s membership and the NCPG’s broader direction.
The new NCPG position
The new director role is focused on strategy for the council’s financial services and trading work, according to the posting. It would sit at the center of the organization’s effort to better understand and respond to risks tied to trading activity.
The job listing says the role will “drive the strategic development, growth, and implementation of a groundbreaking initiative focused on the intersection of financial trading, prediction markets, emerging financial products, public health, and gambling-related harm.”
“The Director of Strategy will partner closely with industry leaders, regulators, state affiliates, researchers, policymakers, and individuals with lived experience,” the posting reads. “This individual will help shape the national conversation and drive meaningful change in an emerging and rapidly evolving landscape.”
NCPG trader initiative
The Financial Trader Health and Safety Initiative was announced in June as the NCPG’s effort to examine the mental health and behavioral risks tied to financial trading platforms, including prediction markets.
The council framed the initiative as a way to identify harm, support education and develop best practices as trading platforms become more mainstream. It gives the council a framework for treating trading behavior the way it has long treated gambling behavior: as something that can create addiction, impulsivity and consumer harm.
Kalshi joined in May
Kalshi joined the NCPG in May, becoming the highest profile prediction markets operator to align itself publicly with problem gambling advocacy. It also donated $2 million toward the Financial Trader Health and Safety Initiative.
The company’s move was part of a broader effort to present itself as a responsible market operator, especially as prediction markets face regulatory scrutiny and public skepticism.
Kalshi’s partnership with the council was a notable step because it connected a federally regulated prediction market platform with one of the most recognized responsible gambling organizations in the country.
Michigan left NCPG last week
The MGCB left the NCPG last week, a move that followed the council’s decision to welcome Kalshi. The exit reflected discomfort among some gaming regulators over the council’s expanding footprint into prediction markets and trading-related products.
That matters because the NCPG has long been a bridge between regulators, operators and public health advocates.
Michigan’s departure suggests that bridge is now under strain as the organization broadens its focus from gambling harm to financial trading harm and prediction markets. MGCB Executive Director Henry Williams said the partnership “undermines state enforcement actions and risks weakening the positions of state regulatory bodies nationwide.”
“After considering this matter, I have concluded that continuing our membership in NCPG is inconsistent with the MGCB’s mission, statutory responsibilities, and its commitment to responsible gaming and to protecting the public from the risks of problem gambling in Michigan,” Williams said.
