NONPROFIT NEWS FROM ELSEWHERE
Long-simmering tensions between grassroots activists and the public faces of the Black Lives Matter movement are boiling over, and some involved worry that the rift will hand ammunition to the movement’s opponents. The hard feelings include concern over financial opacity and possible mismanagement, confusion over the many disparate groups that share the name Black Lives Matter, resentment of and suspicions of self-dealing by the movement’s most visible figures, and a sense that the movement has exploited the pain of the powerless people it claims to champion. In the absence of much information on Black Lives Matter finances, groups previously led by Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, are under scrutiny. Those groups have transferred funds among themselves or paid significant sums to companies run by their own executives or close associates, which a nonprofit lawyer said raises red flags. Adding to the concern is that it is unclear who is currently leading the organization. One expert on nonprofit management called the situation “messy” and another advised “radical transparency” in general for groups that are under the microscope and face public conflict. (New York)
Plus: How the Founders of One of Black Lives Matter’s Most Prominent Organizations Fell Out. (New York)
Also: 10 Years Since Trayvon (New York)
Months after a controversy over donor interference in an American history course, Yale University will establish a committee to ensure that its gift policies protect academic freedom. Nearly a year ago, history professor Beverly Gage stepped down as head of the university’s Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy after its namesake donors, former Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady and mutual fund billionaire Charles B. Johnson, began complaining about its direction. Gage said she started hearing inquiries and concerns from the donors after one of her colleagues in the program published an opinion article criticizing President Donald Trump as a demagogue. Those complaints were followed by a university decision to create an advisory board for the program that would be dominated by conservative figures of the donors’ choosing. Shortly afterward, Gage resigned from the program. Later, Yale’s faculty senate called for a committee to “survey existing donor agreements” and recommend gift policies to protect academic freedom. The new committee will include faculty members and administrative staff, and it will review “the current gift acceptance and review policy” but not individual donations, Yale President Peter Salovey told the Yale Daily News. (New York Times)
Gates Foundation
- Gates Foundation CEO Insists That French Gates Remains ‘Engaged’ (Devex)
- Will the Gates Foundation’s Board Ever Hold Bill Accountable? (Nation)
More News
- National Butterfly Center Closing in Response to Conspiracy Theorists’ Threats (Daily Beast)
- 4 State Senators Call for Audit of Minn. Department of Education Over Alleged Nonprofit Fraud (Star Tribune)
- House Panel Says Nonprofit Everglades College Enriches Its Owner (Washington Post)
Museums
- Why U.S. Museum Workers Are Mobilizing Against Their Employers (ART Newspaper)
- Museum of Natural History Worker Says She Was Fired for Unionizing Over Covid Safety (Newsweek)
- Accusations of Bullying, Transphobia Prompt Departures at San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum (KQED)
- Atlanta’s Hammonds House Museum in Turmoil (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)