The financial struggles of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Global Network Foundation ended the last year with an extreme deficit of nearly $9 million, according to the foundation’s tax documents that were recently posted online.
The filings show that the nonprofit recorded revenue of only $8.5 million, which is roughly half of the organization's spending of over $17 million. This creates an even larger deficit when contrasted to the excess of $41 million the year before.
This extreme debt has caused a nearly $11.75 million cut from their initial assets, resulting in only $30 million left in the piggy bank. And including the donations earmarked for the organization, BLM has spent two-thirds of the $90 million raised.
Despite the financial difficulty, the organization still managed to pay out millions to organizers and Patrisse Cullors', a former co-founder, and relatives. This is specifically true for the sister organization, Black Lives Matter Grassroots, which sued for the funds “diverted to [Shalomyah Bowers] own coffers”. Bowers was the replacement for Cullors when she left the organization following financial scandals brought to light by The Post.
Furthermore, audits from the previous two years revealed that Bowers’ company was given $1.69 million “for management and consulting services”, and fellow board member Danielle Edward’s firm, was also given $1.063 million for the same services. In addition, Paul Cullors, Patrisse’s brother, was documented as the only current salaried employee, and paid $125,000, plus another $15,000 offered for “security”. However, his security company, Black Ties LLC, was given $756,330.
In the mystery of the numbers game, it appears that BLM also agreed to pay $600,000 to an unnamed former board member’s consulting firm. And among the rounds of several payments, Kaileee Scales was given a severance payment of $115,000.
On the other hand, amidst the financial roller-coaster, there was no record of any payments to Cullors’ baby daddy Damon Turner or his company, Trap Heals, which was given $969,000 in 2021.
However, following the financial meltdown, BLM claims to “work[] inside and outside of the system to heal the past, re-imagine the present, and invest in the future of black lives”.
Paul Kamenar of the National Legal and Policy Center watchdog group asserts: “while Patrisse Cullors was forced to resign due to charges of using BLM’s funds for her personal use, it looks like she’s still keeping it all in the family [with relatives still receiving payments]”.