GLAAD CEO and board chair Sarah Kate Ellis is under fire after a New York Times report accused her of lavish spending, including spending $22,000 on a first-class flight to the Cannes Lions Festival and using the nonprofit's money to renovate her home office.
According to the article by investigative journalist Emily Steele, Ellis’ spending pattern may have violated not only LGBTQ organization policies, but also internal IRS policies. The Times reported that GLAAD’s internal travel policy recommended that employees fly economy, use public transportation and “be mindful of costs.” GLAAD said that, on the advice of lawyers, it did not report Ellis’s home office renovation as income on her tax returns.
After reviewing GLAAD expense reports, employment agreements, tax returns and other paperwork, The New York Times found that Ellis had spent on first-class flights (including a Delta One flight to Cannes Lions that totaled $21,743), luxury hotels and private car services. The New York Times alleges that Ellis also added $20,000 to her contract to renovate her home office and $25,000 to rent a summer home in Provincetown, Massachusetts. This was all in addition to Ellis’s annual salary, which The New York Times reported was between $700,000 and $1.3 million a year when factoring in her base salary and various bonuses.
The Times reported that GLAAD’s former chief financial officer, Emily Blauschi, warned Liz Jenkins, GLAAD’s board chair, about the excessive spending and believed it was not being properly reported to the IRS. An outside law firm looked into the matter and suggested the organization update its travel policy to allow executives to upgrade their trips under special circumstances, the Times reported. Blauschi left GLAAD last summer.
Richard Ferraro, a GLAAD spokesman, denied many of the Times’s allegations in the article, saying Ellis’s travel arrangements were in line with its updated travel policy. He defended Ellis’s refurbishment of her home office and rental of a summer home in Provincetown, saying the expenses enabled her to further GLAAD’s mission, and said the organization consulted with lawyers and accountants to ensure it followed IRS rules.
In a statement to The New York Times, Jenkins said she stands behind Ellis “with respect and appreciation for how she and her team are leading the movement at a time when our community is under attack. We have full confidence that they are doing so with integrity and that they share the board’s commitment to strong, unquestionable governance and business practices.”
“I take my role as GLAAD’s CFO very seriously, and we will continue to update our procedures to keep pace with the rapid growth of the organization,” Ellis added.
GLAAD representatives did not immediately respond. diverseRequest for further comment.
