Is BLM Getting Reformed Into the System? BLM’s Leaders Used Charitable Funds To Enrich Themselves And Their Families, New Documents Show
From [HERE] Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF) has paid out millions in contracts to insiders, newly released tax documents show.
The nation’s largest BLM organization approved lucrative contracts to firms owned by members of the organization’s leadership and their family members between July 2022 and June 2023, tax filings show. The shuffling of charitable funds to private companies owned by interested parties raises considerable ethical concerns given the lack of oversight and the possible conflicts of interest, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Whether a person loves this charity’s mission or hates it, they should be angry that significant amounts of charitable dollars are being channeled to interested parties without adequate oversight in place,” Charity Watch Executive Director Laurie Styron told the DCNF. “Charities are expected to avoid both real and perceived conflicts of interest to maintain public trust. This charity is doing the opposite. The optics here are really, really bad.”
BLMGNF “has no independent oversight” as the charity’s board is too small to effectively guard against the misuse of funds from those in charge of the organization, Styron said.
The organization paid the consulting firm BOWERS* nearly $2.6 million during the time frame for “staffing and management services,” according to tax filings. Shalomyah Bowers, the secretary of the charity’s board, owns at least 35% of that firm. [MORE]