Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Silent on 1 Million Cups Controversy

Controversial Community Organizer still listed as 1 Million Cups Waco sponsor & featured prominently in social media.  Allegations against the Kauffman organizer include fraud and embezzlement.   Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation silent on supposed investigation.  Jack Skidmore, The Liars & Bullies Initiative

(Special to UnhappyFranchisee.Com)  WACO, TEXAS For Immediate Release

Ewing Marion Kauffman Community Organizer Fraud Trials to Begin

Related Story:  Fraud Trials to Begin for Ewing Marion Kauffman Community Organizer & 1 Million Cups Sponsor

Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Still Silent on Status of Waco Organizer & Sponsor

Information requests submitted to 1 Million Cups Waco and local co-organizers Matthew Heaton & Reece Flood, have not been returned.

After two inquiries via the Ewing Marion Kauffman website, we received a belated response from Lauren Aleshire, Senior Content Marketing Specialist:

Thank you for your patience in responding.

We are investing [sic] your complaint and the organizer. As you know, organizers are volunteers and 1 Million Cups is a volunteer-led organization, bound only by their license agreements. If there is a violation of that agreement, corrective action will be taken.

Requests to Ms. Aleshire have not been answered.

On January 26, 2021, we submitted links and evidence regarding the Ogles to John E. Tyler, General Counsel, Secretary, and Chief Ethics Officer, Legal, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Mr. Tyler replied:

Thank you for your email, attachment, and links that bring the situation regarding the Waco 1 Million Cups situation to our attention. I look forward to reviewing the information, looking into the situation, and to getting back to you with any questions we may have. 

Again, we appreciate your information and leads.

In Its Urgent, Messy, Imperfect Journey, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Should Consider the Concept of “Do No Harm”

In our initial effort to spotlight and, hopefully, stop, the endorsement and promotion of businesses that lie and bully, we’ve come to suspect that well-meaning organizations like Greater Hewitt Chamber of Commerce and Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation/1 Million Cups do not screen, monitor or have clear procedures for dealing with predatory, unethical and/or misleading members and volunteer organizers.

It seems to us that as long as volunteers or members can put on a good presentation or are willing to put in time and energy, these non-profit organizations will gladly grant them cloaks of legitimacy and respectability, and give them unfettered access to an ongoing supply of trusting entrepreneurs and would-be business owners.

It seems to us that as long as volunteers or members can put on a good presentation or are willing to put in time and energy, these non-profit organizations will gladly grant them cloaks of legitimacy and respectability, and give them unfettered access to an ongoing supply of trusting entrepreneurs and would-be business owners.

Did the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation do so much as a Google search on the Ogles and Sometimes Spouse before granting them unlimited rights to use their name and credibility on their site, in YouTube videos, throughout social media, in in-person presentations, on weekly Zoom calls with members, as speakers at their national summit in Kansas City?

In addition, Christy Ogle was in a position to use her position as Community Organizer to swap speaking engagements with other leaders in the rather incestuous cross-referring business networks of Waco.

Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is quick to promote its 1 Million Cups educational initiative as a crowning achievement.  Kauffman Foundation logos are plastered on 1 Million Cups website and materials.  1 Million Cups is a prominent program featured in Kauffman communications.  Yet when asked for accountability, their communications person quickly demures: “organizers are volunteers and 1 Million Cups is a volunteer-led organization, bound only by their license agreements.”

In other words, we’ll accept credit, but no responsibility.

Perhaps Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s Imperfect Journey Could Include an Update on its Waco Investigation

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation website includes well-written and seemingly humble articles about its sincere desire to promote equity, diversity, and empowerment of individuals in local communities.

Last March, Kauffman’s Chief Talent, Integration, and Culture Officer Kathleen Boyle Dalen wrote in “The urgent, messy, imperfect work none of us should hide from”:

…I’ve wanted to hide, because my ego wants to be an expert and instead, I’m a beginner.

Our process has been clunky and slow, but it’s also been about building relationships, connection, and trust.

Our process is about building the resilience to continue to look at ourselves honestly, with compassion and with an urgency for improvement.

In “Rebuild better: A message from the CEO” Kauffman Foundation President and CEO, Office of the President Wendy Guillies wrote:

As we have written about previously, we start that imperfect journey internally by examining how our own practices must change to support equity and inclusion.

We will commit to continually improve our strategies, our processes, and policies to better support the communities in which we work.

We have no doubt that the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is staffed with capable, well-meaning professionals.

However, it appears to us that a priority in their examination of their own practices should be the timeliness and transparency in communicating with those who have invested time and resources to bring a critical issue to their attention.

Hint, hint…!

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TAGS: Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Kauffman Foundation, Kauffman Kansas City Mo, 1 Million Cups, 1 Million Cups Waco, Wendy Guillies, John E. Tyler, Kathleen Boyle Dalen, Matthew Heaton, Reece Flood, Greater Hewitt Chamber of Commerce, Liars & Bullies Initiative, Sometimes Spouse, Christy Ogle, Max Ogle, Liars, Bullies, Liars & Bullies, Ogle bankruptcy, Ogle lawsuits, sometimes spouse lawsuits, sometimes spouse scam