Philip Steigman is a policy strategist and systems builder focused on how public policy can better support children, families and communities. His work is grounded in time spent in the youth development field, where he worked directly with afterschool and community-based programs and saw firsthand how relationships, belonging and opportunity shape young people’s lives.
He later brought that field-based perspective into government, spending fifteen years in local, state, and federal roles working on cross-agency policy related to early childhood and elementary-age wellbeing. Across these roles, Philip focused on how policy, funding and accountability systems shape what is possible on the ground for children, families and the adults who support them.
Building on that experience, Steigman now leads Connected for Kids, a national initiative in partnership with Child Trends and the Georgetown University Thrive Center. Through this work, he brings together researchers, policymakers, funders and local leaders to align education, health, youth development and family-serving systems around shared outcomes for children’s well-being and flourishing. A central focus of the work is filling the “missing middle” of elementary-age years to help set children up for flourishing in adolescence and young adulthood.
As a Doris Duke Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy, Philip contributes an applied, real-world perspective on evidence-based policymaking, systems alignment and equity. His work centers on translating developmental science into practical policy and funding strategies that reflect how systems actually operate and that strengthen the conditions children need to flourish. Steigman holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Vermont, a master’s in human development and family studies from Wheelock College and a master’s in public policy from Brandeis University.