The US government gives other nations 68 billion US dollars of foreign support Every yr – greater than some other country. Over half of this sum is managed by the US agency for international developmentIncluding Geldern for Programs that combat hunger and illness outbreaks, humanitarian relief in war zones and support of other life-saving programs akin to the President's emergency plan for the AIDS relief.

On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump exposed many of the US foreign aid, on the day on which he took office for the second time. The next day, Foreign Minister Marco Rubio A gave Stop work order This made payments for foreign aid financing by agencies akin to USAid for 90 days.

Every week later there have been dozens of high -ranking USAI civil servants go on vacation After the Trump government accused her of attempting to freeze the help. The office for management and budget is now Break and evaluation of all foreign help To see if it adheres to the politics and priorities of the Trump government.

I’m a Scientist for foreign help Anyone who researches what happens to the local partners of the US government within the countries who receive this support when the financing flows are interrupted. Most of those partners are local non -profit organizations that construct schools, vaccinate children, react to emergencies and offer other essential goods and services. These organizations often depend on foreign funds.

A “ruthless” movement

Help Egypt and Israel was spared along with some spared Emergency food aid. The United States later waived the stop work order For the distribution of life -saving medication.

Almost all other aid programs stayed within the queue From January 29, 2025.

Many development experts criticized freezing and underlining the disturbance that it’s going to cause in lots of countries. A Senior USAid officer published an anonymous explanation, which she called “ruthlessly”.

Interaction, the most important coalition of international non -governmental organizations within the USA, describes the hold Contrary to the worldwide leadership and values ​​of the United States.

Of the USD 35 billion to 40 billion US dollars, the USA divides annually, $ 22 billion is supplied by grants and contracts with international organizations to implement programs. These can proceed to be assigned to local partners in recipient countries.

If this help frozen, frozen or cut down as a complete, these local partners wish to fill the gaps.

The Foreign Ministry manages the remainder of the 68 billion US dollars of annual US foreign aidTogether with other agencies akin to the peace corps.

How local non -profit organizations react and adapt

While sudden disorders of foreign aid are at all times destabilized, the research results show that The auxiliary flows have fluctuating Since 1960 has grow to be more volatile over time. My research partners and I even have found that these disorders harm local service providers, although a lot of them manage to proceed your work.

Over the years, I even have guided a whole bunch of interviews with international non -governmental organizations and the local partners of those non -profit organizations in Latin America, Africa and Asia. I study that Strategies that follow development and humanitarian auxiliary groups If the assistance is stopped. These 4 are essentially the most common.

1. Shifting to national or local government financing

In many cases, national and native governments support groups that previously based on foreign help and filled the gap.

An educational program that’s led by an area non -profit Ecuadorian management, Development and self -governmentcalled Accelerated basic cycle is an example. This program goals at young individuals who haven’t been at college for greater than three years. It lets you end the elementary school – referred to as the “basic cycle” in Ecuador in a single yr after which enter the highschool. First, it partially supported it through the financing of foreign governments and was fully financed by the federal government of Ecuador after which became an official government program that was carried out by the state Ministry of Education.

2. Earn income

Local non -profit organizations also can generate income by collecting fees for his or her services or selling goods in order that they will meet their missions and at the identical time generate hardly any money.

For example, Send ghana is a development organization that has promoted good government and equality in Ghana because it was founded in 1998. In 2009 Ghana created a non -profit subsidiary called named named Underponent This manages microfinance programs and credit cooperatives. This subsidiary is now helping to finance Ghana's work.

Bangladesh rural promotion committee and the GrameUse this approach in Bangladesh.

3 .. Tap the local philanthropy

Networks like Worldwide initiatives to support Grantmaker And Global fund for community foundations have promoted local philanthropy everywhere in the world. They urge governments to adopt guidelines that promote local philanthropy. This sort of giving is due to the Current crowdfunding platforms.

Nevertheless, complex tax systems and the dearth of incentives for the offer in lots of countries that receive foreign help are ongoing challenges. Some governments have occurred. India Law on the social responsibility of corporationsenacted 2014, increased non -profit incentives. For example, 2% of corporate profits requires to go Social initiatives in India.

V.

Diasporas Are individuals who live outside of their countries of origin or from whom their families got here but keep strong connections to places that they consider as their homeland.

Use local non -profit organizations everywhere in the world Demand of diaspora communities contribute to economic development of their countries of origin. For example in Colombia, Carla Cristina FoundationA non -governmental organization results in kindergarten schools and provides children with low incomes.

It receives a part of its financing of diaspora guided non -profit organizations within the USA, akin to the New England Association for Colombian childrenwhich is predicated outside of Boston, and Colombia In Miami.

An urge for the locals to do more

Trump's stop work command fell along with a resuscitation of A Pushing This currently influences foreign help from many countries.

With the localization, the nations trying foreign help to extend the role of local authorities and organizations for development and humanitarian support. USAID was a leading supporter of the localization.

I feel that Abruptness of the stop work order will probably disturb many development projects. These projects include support for Ukrainian auxiliary groups that supply humanitarian humanitarian aid and projects for youngsters who don’t get enough to eat.

Sometimes there are good reasons to be stopped. But if that happens, sounds and Responsible donor exit strategies are essential to avoid the lack of essential local services.

Across the country, academics, journalists and researchers are mapping their state's news and knowledge ecosystems.

Their methods vary, but such initiatives aim to grasp the fragmented reality of where people get their local news and knowledge. Often this isn't only a legacy news organization comparable to a community newspaper, television station or radio station.

Local news mapping in communities goes back greater than a decade. But since then, researchers at Montclair State University's Center for Cooperative Media have created something recent New Jersey interactive news map In 2020, similar projects exploded.

As an instructor at Colorado College, where I manage this Institute of JournalismI'm obsessive about the way in which people get their local news and knowledge. For a course called “The Future and Sustainability of Local News,” students and I interviewed and surveyed Coloradans on the subject. We has created an interactive map that shows Here, Coloradans can learn what's occurring of their communities across all 64 counties within the state.

We published this primary Colorado News Mapping Project in 2022 in collaboration with the University of Denver and others. It features a growing list of over 600 news and knowledge sources. The map, which we update recurrently, includes all the things from podcasts and Facebook groups, TikTok and Instagram accounts to Substack newsletters and more.

In one in every of our state's least populous counties, San Juan, a student learned of “a single community member who went door to door telling people about certain events or occurrences.” Yes, this contemporary town crier appears on our map.

A have a look at the graphic shows which counties have abundant news and knowledge sources and which don’t. It also comprises census data on population and demographics.

Local news mapping projects are gaining momentum

Colorado is one in every of several states with such projects.

Last 12 months, universities mapped local news ecologies Nebraska, Maryland And Minnesota. Around the identical time, projects began for New Mexico, Montana, Wisconsin and Wyoming. They followed the maps Oregon and elsewhere.

Washington State University is Creating a map with funding from a legislative initiative to support local news. It could even make clear how lawmakers there shape public policy.

Researchers have also attempted to evaluate the local news environments in specific regions, e.g New England, in southern New MexicoCalifornia Domestic Empireand the cities of Philadelphia, Baltimore And Detroit.

A framework for mapping local news

Those of us who do that labor-intensive research profit from organizations that help make it easier.

Last 12 months, the firm Impact Architects released one News and Information Ecosystem Playbook and accompanying Workbook This helps researchers compare one community's news and knowledge ecosystem to others. Resources include the best way to set baselines and collect data.

These mapping and rating initiatives come at a time when local newspapers are increasingly shrinking or disappearing from communities. have papers disappeared after about two seconds per week, in accordance with a study by Northwestern University's State of Local News Project. Combined with broader cuts in funding and staffing, the event has led to what researchers call ““Ghost newspapers” and “news deserts”..”

A 2023 landscape study of Georgia found this troubling 17 of its counties have none a single source of skilled local news ever.

Colorado's methodology

To understand the Colorado landscape, we used a loose methodology.

We select to not be judge and jury on the legitimacy of a source. We added something to our map if residents told us they relied on it or if it had one other demonstrable impact on the community. In this fashion we desired to reflect the fact of where people in a county are on the lookout for news and knowledge and what is accessible.

On our map, we noted whether a source was a member of knowledgeable journalism organization and what its ownership structure was. For context, now we have included a transient description of every source.

University of Denver researchers Kareem Raouf El Damanhoury And David Coppini First, two public databases were compiled to acquire a baseline list of branches in each Colorado county. They also analyzed coverage in each county on a single weekday in 2021 and determined the variety of original and native stories produced.

Colorado College students then interviewed people within the counties to discover additional sources. We sent surveys to local news organizations to distribute of their communities.

Calvin University Journalism professor Jesse Holcomb has worked on news mapping projects and researched. He noted that a “major conflict” exists between scale and precision.

Scaling, he said, allows researchers to make broad, generalizable statements concerning the health of a landscape. However, this will come on the expense of granular detail through “laborious, bespoke groundwork” on the community level.

“In contrast, research that emphasizes precision and accuracy is often limited to case studies, and therefore it is more difficult to generate generalizable insights,” he said.

Those who zoom in on a news map could also be on the lookout for more efficient decision-making, comparable to: B. identifying a news outlet based on stationary location reasonably than coverage area.

“The former is easy to measure but has limited significance,” Holcomb said. “The latter is difficult to measure, but brings more insight in the form of insights.”

An evolution in news mapping

This recent generation of local news and knowledge cartographers are sometimes situated in senior journalism departments and have rapidly evolving technology Tech tools.

They are conducting state-level news ecology research at a time when national and native charities are raising and spending money to assist revitalize the country's local news scenes.

“It is important for funders in our network to understand not only which geographic communities different newsrooms reach, but also which specific audiences they are intended to serve – and how,” said Melissa Milios Davis, network manager for Press Forwarda nationwide non-profit initiative. “Having all of this useful information in one place – even with layers of socioeconomic and civic engagement data – helps target philanthropic resources in the communities and contexts that need them most.”

As these different state maps take more shape, Sarah Stonbely from the Tow Center for Digital Journalism is constructing a national project local news registry. It is geared toward all providers of citizen information. Think community centers, chambers of commerce, local governments, and even small businesses.

Other initiatives, comparable to the Civic Information Index and the Local News Roadmaphave advocated similar approaches.

“As the local news landscape has evolved, so has local news mapping,” Stonbely said. “It has become clear that journalists are no longer the gatekeepers; There are now so many ways people get news, especially in local journalism deserts. Our efforts to provide actionable data about the local news landscape have had to evolve accordingly.”

A neighborhood news map near you

As researchers map their very own communities, they receive support from those that have traversed similar terrain.

A bunch of scientists from several universities has been formed Local News Impact Consortiumthat works with researchers and practitioners to assist develop standards and protocols. Its goal is to “expand the in-depth investigation” of local information ecosystems across the country.

A panel on “Mapping Local News Ecosystems and Closing the Gaps” is scheduled to happen later this 12 months on the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

I plan to represent Colorado's project on the jury. Who knows how various things could look by then.

LOS ANGELES — In April, a gaggle of oldsters from Orange County flew to Sacramento to attend a conference hosted by Disability Voices United, an advocacy group for individuals with disabilities and their families.

They wanted to focus on three problems to state officials on the event: the inadequate mental health care for kids with developmental disabilities, the confusing mess of state systems which are presupposed to help them, and the gaps in the provision of on a regular basis care services.

Among them was Christine LyBurtus, a single mother from Fullerton. Last fall, after repeated 911 calls and hospitalizations, she made the agonizing decision to send her son Noah, who autistic, for not less than one yr in a government institution.

LyBurtus struggled to seek out the support she needed to maintain him at home. “Families are being forced to place their children in group homes and treatment centers more than 12 hours away from their homes … or they have to leave the state of California altogether,” she told conference attendees.

“I ask you to listen to us,” she told the state officials before turning away from the microphone.

Despite the increasing diagnosis of autism, the appreciated Although autism affects greater than two million children and teenagers nationwide, experts and advocates report glaring gaps in the supply of mental health take care of autistic youth.

Some researchers have appreciated The over 90% of autistic adolescents have overlapping disorders akin to anxiety, depression or ADHD. Many have alarming Levels from Trauma.

Yet “there are very few specialized facilities in the country that meet the unique needs of people with autism and co-occurring mental illness,” especially in crisis situations, says Cynthia Martin, senior clinical psychologist on the New York-based Child Mind Institute.

Between 2020 and 2021, the variety of California children and adolescents served by the state’s developmental disabilities system who were identified as having “complex needs” — a state term for many who required a spread of crisis services or ended up in a closed psychiatric unit — rose from 536 to 677, in response to a report released last yr by the California Department of Developmental Services.

California is working to construct more facilities to deal with and support these youth, including, for a few yr, STAR homes that provide “crisis stabilization” just like the one Noah moved into. But the state is seeing a rise within the number of individuals needing such programs, in addition to a rise within the variety of former residents returning for “further stabilization,” the state report said.

As of this summer, STAR homes across the state can only house 15 youth; the house that took in Noah has a budget of greater than $1 million per resident per yr.

While there are other community facilities that may accommodate developmentally disabled youth in crisis situations, “there remains an urgent need for a 'can't say no' option for individuals who cannot or will not be helped by private providers,” the federal government report concluded.

Autistic people and their families also complain that they can not find appropriate assist in their communities before they reach a crisis point. Researchers have found that mental medical experts often unprepared To working with people with mental or developmental disabilities or attribute symptoms to their disability, reasonably than overlapping needs.

“It's pretty common for a psychologist to turn away someone with a developmental disability or say, 'I don't serve that population,'” says Zoe Gross, director of advocacy for the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.

Alison D. Morantz, director of the Stanford Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Law and Policy Project, called it a “scandal” that, given the shortage of psychiatric beds for adolescents, “family members who communicate that their child is autistic can say, 'No, thank you,'” once they learn that their child is autistic.

“It puts parents in impossible situations,” she said.

The biggest challenges for a lot of families with autistic teens often revolve around aggression, which will not be a core feature of autism but a symptom of other problems that must be addressed, says child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Matthew Siegel. told a federal committee last yr.

“You have to look behind or in front of it … to find out what might be contributing to or driving this aggression,” said Siegel, founding father of the Autism and Developmental Disorders Inpatient Research Collaborative. He and other researchers have seen promising results from specialty units in hospitals, but there are few – “not even one per state.”

“Even specialized clinics that can address these challenges are quite rare,” he said.

The Supreme Court has governed that institutionalizing individuals with disabilities who could live locally is discriminatory if community placement is “reasonably possible.” Federal investigations have sometimes criticized States because people don’t receive the services they should stay of their homes or communities.

The law “requires that services be provided in the most integrated environment possible to meet the needs of an individual with a disability,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a press release.

But the struggle to access essential services can push autistic individuals with mental health issues out of their communities. Bonnie Ivers, director of clinical services for the Regional Center of Orange County, said last yr that “more and more families are having to look for options outside of our county.”

Some Californians are even leaving the state: As of June 2022, 49 youth with “complex needs” were receiving services outside California, and one other 33 “were at risk of being referred to out-of-state resources,” in response to the Department of Development Services.

The following yr, that number rose to 57 youths from out of state — and one other 64 liable to joining them. The numbers may very well be higher: The state agency says it learns of out-of-state placements only when families inform regional centers that coordinate developmental disability services.

Nancy Bargmann, director of the California Department of Developmental Services, said her goal is to offer “a continuum of support” so families “don't have to make the really difficult decision of not having their child live at home.”

California has greater than a dozen Teams focused on crisis prevention, The so-called START teams helped people stay of their homes. Services This includes linking different systems that support families, akin to mental health providers and disability services.

But they will not be yet available all over the place within the state. California also has mobile “Crisis Assessment Stabilization Teams” – or POUR — designed for individuals who have exhausted other types of assistance or are liable to being moved to more restrictive facilities. There were three of those within the spring, in response to the Department of Development Services.

Judy Mark, president of the advocacy group Disability Voices United, argued that it’s counterproductive to attempt to stabilize a baby away from his or her family. If possible, she said, California should provide ongoing in-home care, which she said can be more cost effective than caring for a baby in a STAR facility.

But disability service providers say it stays difficult to seek out such caregivers because government wages for these staff are higher than what they may earn elsewhere. Increases in these wages have been introduced slowly and steadily, with the following increase scheduled for January.

In many cases, “you want someone to be home 24 hours a day to help the parents,” says Larry Landauer, executive director of the Regional Center of Orange County. “But we are drastically short on staff in that area.”

Any gaps within the system can come to a head when young individuals with developmental disabilities enter adolescence, especially once they are “faced with the inability to communicate during such a complex and confusing time,” says Hector Ramírez, a member of the California Commission on Disability Access who’s autistic and lives within the San Fernando Valley.

When autistic youth and their families don't get the support they need, Ramírez said, “there are cumulative consequences that make people worse off – when they shouldn't be worse off.”

MARTINEZ — Pedestrians and cyclists within the Bay Area will soon be 4 miles closer to having the ability to explore a continuous coastal path through nine counties and 47 cities, thanks to almost $2 million in recent federal funding for the San Francisco Bay Trail.

Congressman John Garamendi recently awarded Contra Costa County $1 million for improvements along a 3.2-mile stretch of San Pablo Avenue. The plan is to convert one in all the 4 lanes right into a “complete street” with a protected path between Rodeo and Crockett, a project currently estimated to cost $13.7 million.

Garmendi also distributed $900,000 to the East Bay Regional Park District to fill a half-mile gap between the present George Miller Regional Trail and the Amtrak Intermodal Station in downtown Martinez with a continuous, paved trail. Once the project, estimated to cost greater than $4 million, is accomplished, Regional Trail users may have uninterrupted access to Vallejo, Benicia, Crockett and Martinez.

Garamendi, who represents California’s eighth District, said this Federal funds for joint projects were included in the primary budget package for 2024, which was finalized in March.

“These projects will make previously underinvested communities more livable, with safer, less congested streets and better options for walking, biking or taking the train to work or school,” Garamendi said. “This has all been made possible by the dedication and passion of dozens of local leaders.”

Jeff Valeros, a senior civil engineer within the Contra Costa County Department of Public Works, estimates that after construction begins, crews may not begin constructing on the San Pablo Avenue section until 2027. He said the project will likely take two years due to must bypass existing traffic interchanges on the busy road.

“We want to make sure that pedestrians and cyclists do not find themselves in a situation where they have to move in a really uncomfortable and inconvenient way next to the trucks and vehicles that are driving there,” said Valeros.

For nearly 4 many years, Bay Area officials have worked to finish the 500-mile trail, which was the brainchild of State Senator Bill Lockyer in 1986.

Colin Coffey, a member of the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) board of directors that represents the northern shoreline from Hercules to Brentwood, said that along with the challenges of addressing the complex geography and terrain along this stretch in Contra Costa County, the gap-filling project between Berrellesa Street in downtown Martinez and the hills of the George Miller Regional Trail has been delayed by regulatory issues, largely related to the railroad tracks that Amtrak and Union Pacific trains run on.

“The easy parts of the Bay Trail are done,” Coffey said. “When you look at the system of trails and parks in the East Bay, it's just remarkable that we have leaders and community members who are really supportive of dedicating time and money to this work.”

In June 2018, the EBRD concluded a 13.2 million dollars, 335 meter long bridge over the railroad tracks in Pinole along the Bay Trail – a one-fifth-mile project that was one in all the agency’s costliest and sophisticated in recent memory. A one-mile extension of the trail behind the now-closed Golden Gate Fields race track – stretching from Gilman Street in Berkeley to Albany Beach – was accomplished in July 2020. Built over two years, the $18.9 million project filled one in all the biggest gaps on the 18 miles from Richmond to Oakland.

Contra Costa County Executive John Gioia, who lives on Bay Trail in Richmond, said he’s pleased to see the progress of those projects, which can positively impact the health and equity of historically low-income, disadvantaged communities.

“These are expensive projects, but they're about health, equity and providing access to the bay and a means of transportation,” Gioia said. “I see every day the variety of uses this trail has – people of all ages, races and ethnicities, people fishing, walking their dogs, taking their kids out and about… Without federal funding, we often can't really complete these projects.”

After a generational college run in Iowa, Caitlin Clark began her profession this week in Indiana, where the common college graduate earns $52,267 a 12 months, in response to the U.S. Census American Consumer Survey.

But Clark isn't your average young skilled.

She is considered one of the most important stars within the country with huge name recognition and business appeal entering the WNBA. She's sold out arenas, landed a $28 million endorsement take care of Nike and skyrocketed television rankings – and her skilled potential has sparked widespread discussion concerning the economics of girls's basketball.

In her first season with the Indiana Fever, her salary of $76,535 will easily exceed Indiana's average wage. Even considering the WNBA's five-month season, that's a small thing in comparison with many other athletes, especially those credited with the potential to vary the trajectory of their sport.

Victor Wembanyama, the highest pick within the 2023 NBA Draft, earned $12.16 million in his first season, about 80 times greater than Clark per game. Caleb Williams, the NFL's No. 1 draft selection, will earn a salary of about $1 million in 2024, plus a signing bonus that can pay him greater than $7 million. Even Paul Skenes, who was the primary pick within the 2023 MLB Draft but is much from a household name, signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates value around $9.8 million, which incorporates a bonus of $9.2 million Includes US dollars.

The WNBA's revenues are far below those of other major North American leagues. But even in area of interest sports like bowling, browsing and bull riding, Clark's salary lags behind that of pros.

The base salary for a Professional Pickleball Association contract player is $75,000. The top five ranked players on the PPA Tour will receive a median of $1.5 million in prize money and payouts this 12 months. Ten Professional Bowlers Association players earned greater than Clark's rookie salary last 12 months. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association featured 25 bull riders whose paychecks exceeded $76,535, with the top-ranked rider earning nearly Clark's entire four-year contract value $338,056 in 2023 from National Finals Rodeo earnings.

Clark's relatively low salary has turn out to be such a national conversation that even the president has commented on it.

Women in sport proceed to push boundaries and encourage us all.

But at once we see that girls are usually not getting their justifiable share, even in the event that they are the most effective.

It's time we give our daughters the identical opportunities as our sons and ensure women get what they deserve.

– President Biden (@POTUS) April 16, 2024

A key difference between the WNBA and its counterparts in lots of other sports is that WNBA players earn a smaller share of league revenue. While NBA players have negotiated a 50-50 split of basketball revenue, the WNBA's salaries accounted for 9.3 percent of the league's revenue in 2023. Kelsey Plum, the star of the Las Vegas Aces and first vice chairman of the players' association, has repeatedly said that the WNBA players want an even bigger piece of the pie, not necessarily a straight raise. “We don’t demand the same salary as men” she said. “We demand that we receive the same percentage of revenue share.”

Commissioner Cathy Engelbert rejected the narrative surrounding Clark's salary. At the CNBC Changemakers SummitEngelbert explained that Clark could earn as much as half 1,000,000 in WNBA salary in 2024. However, this extra compensation is contingent on Clark profiting from team and league marketing agreements, in addition to receiving individual awards and advancing within the playoffs.

Nothing is guaranteed beyond their base salary that resembles the paychecks present in much newer leagues than the WNBA, which is in its twenty eighth season. Pro Volleyball Federation No. 1 Asjia O'Neal is making $60,000 within the PVF's inaugural season. Additionally, the PWHL pays its players a median of $55,000 of their first 12 months. The newer leagues have said their sponsorship and media rights are necessary sources of revenue. But the WNBA also attracts major sponsors, including Google, Nike and CarMax, and has rights deals with ESPN and Amazon.

Given the WNBA's position within the larger sports landscape, it might be inappropriate to match Clark to Wembanyama, Williams or Skenes. But it's also only paid by the lowest-paid NBA player on a two-way contract ($559,872), some NFL practice players (at the least $12,000 every week) and the minimum earners within the NHL ($750,000). dollars).

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1. The future Olympian, 18, earned $80,000 by winning a multi-day event this spring and a complete of $219,000 from five events in 2024.

2. The Finnish pro finished fifteenth, winning $77,350 in prize money in 14 events and never ending higher than third in 2023.

3. According to Sports Business Journal, the Charlotte Hornets entertainer earns an annual salary of $100,000 – not even the best amongst NBA mascots.

4. The Miami Marlins have signed the 17-year-old catcher to a one-year contract value $75,000 within the 2024 class. He was assigned to the minor leagues of the Dominican Summer League Marlins.

5. The MLS midfielder earned a base salary of $75,325 in 2023, making him the 789th highest-paid player.

6. The base prize money and payouts for a contract player within the Professional Pickleball League are roughly $75,000.

7. The golfer earned $78,414 in 2023 by competing in 11 events (best finish was twenty third).

eighth. Despite failing to position in most competitions, the 20-year-old placed twenty sixth and earned $76,439 in 2023.

9. The chess grandmaster earned almost $80,000 for winning a tournament – the Grand Swiss – in November 2023.

10. The Fortnite player, who ranked 481st worldwide in total earnings, won $83,475 last 12 months.

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The WNBA's current position in its development is usually in comparison with the time when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird entered the NBA, sparking a wave of recognition that has accompanied the league for a long time. When Bird was drafted in 1978, he signed a five-year contract with a median annual value of $650,000 (this figure doesn’t take inflation into consideration). Johnson's average salary over his first five seasons was $460,000.

WNBA advocates hope Clark might help foster similar rivalries, with newcomers like Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky and diverse other players bringing pedigree within the NCAA Tournament and other matchups.

At a fundraiser in April, Southern California head coach Lindsey Gottlieb cited Clark's salary as a reason to advocate for more cash for girls's college basketball. Although Clark and USC star JuJu Watkins have lucrative backers, Gottlieb said neither will “get their worth and worth in basketball.”

The hope for Clark and other WNBA players is that change is on the horizon. The league has struggled up to now to keep up its financial base through investments. Over the last decade, even long-established franchises just like the New York Liberty and the Los Angeles Sparks have almost failed. Teams lacked adequate practice facilities and players often competed abroad to complement their income.

Meanwhile, teams have generally turn out to be more competitive, and recent ownership groups in Atlanta, Las Vegas, New York and Phoenix are focused on making WNBA life more attractive, each financially and with perks. The WNBA has secured more corporate partnerships and media deals to extend the worth of the league. The league generated an estimated revenue of $200 million in 2023, doubling its total revenue in 2019. in response to Chiney Ogwumike, former vice chairman of the players' association. The WNBA recently announced it should spend $25 million on charter flights each of the subsequent two seasons. And it's hoped that a brand new media rights deal – the present one, which brings the printed partners a combined $50 million and expires in 2025 – will provide an extra influx of cash.

Consider the NWSL's recent broadcast contract, which calls for an annual payout of $60 million in comparison with the previous amount of $1.5 million, which helped increase the salary cap by 40 percent from 2023 to 2024 . Now several players' contracts pay high six-figure sums annually and are valued at seven figures over the course of their lives. No WNBA player has ever signed a contract value greater than 1,000,000 dollars.

That million-dollar mark could fall before Clark signs her next contract. And yet, without significant changes to the WNBA's funds, their salary may never reflect what other stars in similar positions receive.

The Athletic One; The athletic one