NCPG executive director resigns after Kalshi partnership backlash

Heather Maurer has resigned as executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG), the non-profit told SBC Americas, leaving the post less than a year after taking it up.

NCPG Board of Directors President Derek Longmeier confirmed the departure in an emailed statement issued on Saturday, saying the organisation's staff would ensure its "advocacy, programs, and services will carry on seamlessly during the search process".

Maurer had held the role since last November, when she succeeded Keith Whyte, who left in January 2025 after 27 years running the organisation. NCPG has now begun searching for her replacement and has not given a reason for her exit.

The resignation follows months of upheaval tied to NCPG's partnership with prediction markets operator Kalshi. In May, the council announced a multi-year deal that included a $2m investment from Kalshi, which became the first member of a newly created Financial Services & Trading Subcategory and joined NCPG's Leadership Circle.

The arrangement drew criticism from states and other advocacy groups. Several of NCPG's member states are currently litigating against Kalshi, arguing that the company runs what amounts to unlicensed sports betting and permits users as young as 18, below the 21-plus age threshold most states apply to sports wagering.

Member organisations in Michigan, Nevada, Ohio and Washington have since quit NCPG directly over its work with Kalshi, according to the council.

Longmeier addressed the fallout in a statement on 22 September, describing NCPG's position on prediction markets as "neutral" and stating that membership or investment "do not constitute endorsement". He said the council's role was not to rule on the legal status of prediction markets but "to prevent and reduce gambling-related harm wherever it occurs".

Maurer's departure comes days after NCPG's Director of Programs, Jaime Costello, announced her own resignation. In a LinkedIn post on 22 September, Costello wrote that "the environment shifted in ways I could no longer reconcile with how I believe this work should be done" over the past year.

Costello said leaving was how she stayed true to why she entered the field, writing that she wanted to keep "doing good, building something alongside people I trust, and ending the day knowing I contributed to something that matters". She said she had proposed a final working day of 9 October and offered to stay on as a transition consultant, but that her last day "came sooner than I had planned, not by my choice".

The leadership turmoil follows an earlier setback for NCPG, which lost the right to use the 1-800-GAMBLER helpline number last September after failing to reach a new licensing agreement with the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey (CCGNJ), the number's owner. A New Jersey court ordered NCPG to stop using the line.

CCGNJ had run the hotline independently from 1983 until 2022, when it licensed it to NCPG for three years; that agreement lapsed in May 2025. Under Maurer, NCPG launched a replacement service, 1-800-MY-RESET, which it now describes as the national problem gambling helpline, while CCGNJ continues to operate 1-800-GAMBLER.