The National Council on Problem Gambling has named Charles H. Jeffers II as interim executive director, installing a governance and strategy consultant to lead the organisation after Heather Maurer’s departure during a dispute over its engagement with prediction markets.
Jeffers is the founder of The Jeffers Group and has more than 30 years’ experience in nonprofit executive leadership and organisational consulting. He has previously served as interim executive director of the American Occupational Therapy Association and as chief executive of the Bermuda Tourism Authority.
Board President Derek Longmeier said Jeffers was selected for his experience of cultural dynamics, operational demands and board governance. His remit during the transition is to align operations with strategy and transparency, while fostering a culture that reflects NCPG values.
The council plans to launch a national search for a permanent executive director in January 2027, with Washington-based Vetted Solutions assisting in identifying candidates.
As we reported in September, Maurer resigned less than a year after taking the executive-director role, amid criticism of the council’s relationship with prediction-market platform Kalshi. Her resignation was confirmed Sept. 28, and she remained in the post through Oct. 16 to support the handover.
The controversy began in May, when NCPG announced that Kalshi would make a $2 million investment over two years and become the first member of a new Financial Services & Trading subcategory. The funding was intended to support NCPG’s Financial Trader Health and Safety Initiative, including education and evidence-informed resources for trading products ranging from equities and options to cryptocurrencies, commodity futures and prediction markets.
Kalshi joined as a Platinum-level member and said its federally regulated exchange offered trading breaks, self-limits, self-exclusion and mental-health resources. NCPG has maintained that membership, funding and collaboration do not give outside organisations control over its research, advocacy, policy positions or public statements.
The move nevertheless prompted a backlash from the legal gambling industry and longtime members. The Michigan Gaming Control Board formally withdrew from NCPG on July 1, saying the Kalshi partnership risked weakening regulators’ positions and could wrongly imply that Kalshi faced the same licensing, consumer-protection and oversight requirements as licensed sports-betting operators. Michigan had obtained a temporary restraining order against Kalshi two days earlier and alleged the platform had offered unlicensed sports gambling in the state and elsewhere.
Casino.org reported that the Ohio Casino Control Commission and Nevada Council on Problem Gambling also ended their memberships, citing unwillingness to be associated with platforms they considered to be engaged in illegal sports betting.
NCPG has defended its involvement by saying it seeks to prevent and reduce gambling-related harm wherever it occurs, while taking no position for or against gambling or on the legality of particular wagering and prediction products. In a September statement, the organisation said sports-event trading was functionally gambling and could expose consumers to risks comparable with traditional sports betting.
The council said prediction markets had rapidly reached millions of Americans, including new and often young users, before consumer-protection infrastructure had kept pace. A Harris Poll conducted on NCPG’s behalf found that 85% of Americans believed people could develop unhealthy or addictive behaviour related to prediction-market platforms, while 84% said the products should receive consumer protections similar to gambling.
NCPG said it considers responsible-engagement tools, self-exclusion, age verification, clear risk disclosures and direct routes to help to be minimum protections for gambling and functionally gambling products.
