Professional Review 3--Integrated Summary

Inegrated Summary

PROFESSIONAL REVIEW

INTEGRATED EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Rand Guebert

This material is strictly confidential.

It may not be reproduced in any way or shared without the explicit written permission of Dr. Kelly O’Donnell and Dr. Michèle Lewis O’Donnell.

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What are the general observations, conclusions and recommendations that can be drawn from the four accompanying executive summaries?

The sad and serious events described in this professional review have their genesis in poor or inadequate corporate governance, which has led to:

·       Authoritarian and dysfunctional management practices

·       Disregard for truth and justice

·       Ineffective employee/staff safeguards

·       Destructive conflicts of interest

·       Covert financial management practices

·       And in the end even suspected criminality

YWAM has experienced all of these consequences, while other organizations such as the WEA-MC, EEMA, Le Rucher and various churches have been affected to varying degrees.  These organizations should not let their good works, built over many years, be undermined by the unethical actions of leaders.  When an organization is confronted with unethical behavior, does it have the capacity to care for itself, or do staff abdicate corporate responsibility to a few unaccountable leaders?  One question arises over and over in this review--where is the ethical and accountable corporate governance?

1. Effective corporate governance does not tolerate authoritarian and dysfunctional management practices.  The dysfunctional management at Le Rucher was allowed to continue first by YWAM leaders and then by the Le Rucher Board.  This facilitated the supposedly unethical acquisition of Le Rucher from YWAM, mistreatment of staff and sale of fraudulent investments.  The good work of Le Rucher is besmirched by the lack of integrity of Christian leaders.  Churches and other organizations that have known about staff mistreatment and fraud have tacitly supported them by their silence or disinterest.  It seems that YWAM leaders emphasized “reconciliation” over the needs of truth and justice.  Authoritarian leadership may reduce red tape and foster initiative, but it can also be utilized by unscrupulous leaders to exploit others and ultimately bring shame on the Body of Christ.

2. Effective corporate governance ensures that when challenges and conflicts arise in an organization there must be truth and justice as well as mercy and reconciliation.  Do leaders value and practice justice and integrity? That must certainly be a measure of the  health of both the leader and the organization. The failure to investigate the facts of an organizational dispute is a recipe for misjudgment and an indication of dysfunction.  Member Care-Europe did not investigate the management issues at Le Rucher, even when they had become aware of serious consequences for former staff as well as the MC-E group itself. The Board of Le Rucher did not adequately investigate the management issues either. The elders of Crossroads Church attempted to investigate this dispute but did not take appropriate action primarily because of a conflict of interest.  WEA-MC leaders needed to better manage the relational impasses that occurred before, during and after RSA 06.  YWAM leaders did not investigate the fraud-related issues brought to their attention by the O’Donnells and many others—instead they asked them to reconcile with someone who was not only abusive but who had sold them fraudulent investments.  YWAM leaders emphasized “reconciliation” over the needs of truth and justice.  Seeking justice often takes blood, sweat and tears—and it seems apparent that the Christian community is not always willing to prioritize this—superficial forgiving, forgetting and “moving on” is so much easier and less expensive.  Where is the integrity of the different Christian groups and organizations in all of these overlapping matters?

3. Effective corporate governance will foster effective employee/staff safeguards.  Both at Le Rucher and in YWAM staff had limited safeguards such as those accorded to those in the same position in secular organizations.  Both organizations had some policies and procedures, but these were ineffective—they were no protection against abusive management.  When the O’Donnells, and later others, attempted to report fraud to YWAM, they were stonewalled by executive leaders and later rebuffed by YWAM-Garden Valley.  When they and others attempted to appeal to executive leaders against Kelly’s dismissal, a totally ad hoc and biased procedure was set up.  Because YWAM staff work as volunteers (similar to independent contractors) they are in a more vulnerable place than those who are legally classified as employees.  YWAM leaders are able to assert authority over people with limited responsibility or accountability for their actions.  The same applied at Le Rucher.  What happened to the O’Donnells and Le Rucher staff is a good example of the maxim that processes and procedures are not a substitute for good, ethical management.

4. Effective corporate governance recognizes that certain conflicts of interest can be very destructive and lead to the compromising of personal integrity.  For example, it was not appropriate for the president of the EEMA to be on the Coordinating Committee of Member Care-Europe at the same time.  YWAM executive leaders should not have considered that Kelly’s line leader was an appropriate person to receive reports of fraud.  At Crossroads Church the elders should never have allowed one of its nine members to be responsible for reporting on the management dispute at Le Rucher when this person was also a Board member of Le Rucher and known to have a management bias.  WEA-MC leaders had commitments to different groups which at times resulted in personal relationships being inappropritely impacted by political expediency.  It takes integrity to guard against conflicts of interest or at least to publicly acknowledge them and their possible consequences.

5. Effective corporate governance recognizes that money is handled with responsibility and accountability.  Money that is acquired by deceptive actions brings shame on the Body of Christ.  Christians are encouraged to teach the importance of wise and prudent financial management—God loves a cheerful giver not a frightened or guilty or naïve supplicant.  When money is managed wisely, there is far less scope for the perpetration of frauds such as NCI/SDI, or for the receipt of money from dubious sources, or the self-aggrandizement of Christian leaders.  When fundraising prowess becomes a sign of a leader’s spirituality the priorities of the Christian community are brought into question—it is the task of the leaders to promote good stewardship of Christian resources.

6. Effective corporate governance promotes good practice and personal integrity, without which there is often a steady descent into dysfunction with possibly even serious legal consequences.  This is evidenced in this case by the inappropriate dismissal of the O’Donnells and the widespread and dramatic impact of the NCI/SDI fraud.  The entire executive leadership of YWAM is not only complicit in the inappropriate dismissal, but also has a serious responsibility stemming from its awareness of the NCI fraud.  How far down in the organization this complicity and awareness are known and accepted is not clear.  But it would appear that the YWAM leadership, as hard as it may be for many to recognize, seems to have headed in directions with serious legal consequences.  Is this possible?  Can it be stopped?  When?  By whom?

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YWAM and other groups are only being challenged now because of the integrity and perseverance of the O’Donnells and those who have stood by them in these last difficult years.  The need for accountability and restitution in varying degrees clearly lies with YWAM, Le Rucher, WEA-MC, MC-E and involved churches.  In authoritarian settings nearly everyone is too vulnerable to stand up to the power of the leaders—staff have limited rights and limited resources on which to rely.  The time has come for the truth to be known and justice to prevail, without which there can be no proper basis for organizational health and reconciliation.  For everyone involved it is not too late to act with integrity and seek redress, both publicly and privately.