The Southern Poverty Law Center has fired its founder and chief trial counsel, Morris Dees. No specific reasons were given, but the SPLC has released a statement about its commitment to a just and inclusive workplace culture that raises some questions.
For a while, after its work took national center stage, the founder of Southwest Key Programs, Juan Sanchez, tried to spin a story of his own humble roots. The media and some federal agencies, however, uncovered a tangle of relationships, high executive pay for family members, and profiteering.
Emmett Carson, by many accounts, put growth above other considerations, so his assertion upon leaving the Silicon Valley Community Foundation that he remains proud that the foundation reflects the ethos of Silicon Valley holds a particular irony.
A horse rescue nonprofit in California paints itself as a “lone wolf” operation that is willing to go to extremes to outdo its “competitors” to prevent animal suffering. The realities of its operation may be even worse than what that revealing statement suggests.
The closing of Portland, Maine’s Venture Hall after receiving a large and prestigious grant follows accusations of sexual misconduct by one of its cofounders.
Did you know there are relatively recognizable phases of development for many nonprofit organizations, and that not knowing them can create havoc?
January 16, 2017; Artforum
In Portland, Oregon, the board of the Disjecta Contemporary Art Center announced in mid-November that the founder and executive director, Bryan Suereth, would be fired as of the end of the year because of leadership conflicts. Suereth founded the 17-year-old arts space four years before it became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in need of a board in 2004. Since then, he has served at their discretion, which has now ended abruptly. The organization’s IRS Form 990 report for 2015 shows it as having a budget of just under $500,000. Its staff is small, and Suereth is not well paid.
Not every situation calls for a nonprofit. In fact, sometimes it may be the exact wrong move.
A political science instructor tasked his students with diagramming an ongoing public-private grants scandal, resulting in the display of an intricate web of conflicts and a valuable lesson.
In a classic case of nonprofit founder-syndrome, 91-year-old conservative powerhouse Phyllis Schlafly is being ejected from the Eagle Forum—but not without considerable resistance.
