The councils mission includes defending charity spending on overhead and executive salaries, its website says. What happened next is something out of Billy Lynns Long Halftime Walk, by Ben Fountain, the Catch-22 of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. John Melia, founder of the Wounded Warrior Project, addressing the Wounded and Injured Veterans Summit in Auburn, Ala., in 2006. This follows reports from CBS News and The New York . Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. It is a nonprofit video news organization that aims to provide a thoughtful counterweight to todays 24/7 news cycle. Ms. Humphrey, an Iraq veteran with PTSD, was fired in 2013. The organization fired Mr. Chick later the same day for insubordination. With health issues due to toxic exposure becoming an increasing concern for veterans, WWP has invested some $620,000 since fiscal 2017 toward research, partnering with Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) and the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, or TAPS, to study disease linkages, build awareness and create a "tiger team" of organizations to develop ways to help affected veterans and their families. The country's most prominent veteran's . Peter J. Johnson Jr on the firing of WWP's CEO and COO. He merely notes that "a lot of what was reported was incorrect," and that, in particular, the reported costs of travel and amenities at all-hands events were far overblown. With millions of good Samaritans regularly donating a portion of their paycheck to good causes, charities are booming unfortunately, not all of the money going into them is coming out the way we think. Mr. Nardizzi said in an interview that Mr. Melia left to pursue business ventures. Veterans organizations in the United States often reflect the era in which they were created: After World War I, they resembled fraternal orders. Still, if the Wounded Warrior Project were to collapse, it could have wide-ranging effects because it gives millions in grants to smaller veterans groups, like Team Rubicon and Team Red White and Blue. Once a child came by the office to donate a piggy bank. Tracy Keil worries that will leave her. Many Americans gave their trust and. Wounded Warrior Project officials are firing half of their executives, closing nine offices and redirecting millions in spending to mental health care programs and partnerships as part of an. That's thanks in part to a soul-searchingly earnest restructuring effort helmed by CEO Mike Linnington, a retired three-star Army general who arrived at the organization in 2016 with a mandate to turn things around. In an interview at the organizations four-story headquarters in a palm-lined office park in Jacksonville, Fla., Mr. Nardizzi, 45, said spending on fund-raising and other expenses not directly related to veterans programs has enabled the Wounded Warrior Project to grow faster and serve more people. CBS News and The New York Times found the. But after recent tax forms reflected questionable spending by the veterans charity on staff expenditures, including $26 million on conferences and meetings at luxury hotels in 2014 alone, Fred Kane called for Nardizzi to be fired.The expenditure on conferences and travel was up from just $1.7 million in 2010, according to reports. In an effort to narrow its focus, WWP has dropped some efforts in favor of supporting other organizations that specialize. Magazines, Digital Wounded Warrior Project's Chief Executive Officer Steven Nardizzi reported a salary of $473,000. That meant many were airlifted back to this country with such severe injuries they needed the most sophisticated medical and rehabilitative care the country had to offer. That said, there are clear indications that the organization is improving its financial practices. Linnington said the 2015-16 fiscal year will get posted in the spring . Jan 26, 2023. Wounded Warrior Project ( WWP) is an American charity and veterans service organization that offers a variety of programs, services and events for wounded veterans of the military actions following September 11, 2001. I'm a warrior. And it has become a brand name, its logo emblazoned on sneakers, paper towel packs and television commercials that run dozens of times. The Wounded Warrior Project is in hot water. This helps prevent another common thinking error called scope neglect, in which our brains fail to ensure that our emotions correspond to the actual impact made by our donations. "Obviously, we're trying to regain trust with the warriors, first and foremost," Linnington told Military.com earlier this year. Mr. Chicks own supervisor told him to fire Mr. Longoria. Many Americans gave their trust and donated their money to this nonprofitto the tune of more than $372 million in 2015. The statement also said apreliminary financial audit found that some policies, procedures and controls at WWP have not kept pace with the organizations rapid growth in recent years and are in need of strengthening.. "We focus our advertising campaign on warriors that have succeeded. John Melia founded the Wounded Warrior Project in 2003 but left in 2009. I loved it, the former Marine sniper said. Why do the misdeeds of one nonprofit cause mistrust of all nonprofits? All rights reserved. Wounded Warrior Project's CEO, Steven Nardizzi, and COO, Al Giordano, were fired by the charity's board amid criticisms about how it spent more than $800 million in donations over the last four years. L.A. County Sheriff: 30% of workforce "unavailable". You lead from the frontgood or badyou dont hide, he said, If no one is going to talk about this right now and it has to be me, then it has to be me.. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! Linnington said the organization is also making a point to be part of conversations involving the "Big Six" -- the congressionally chartered veterans service organizations including American Legion and VFW -- and to be present for regular convenings with the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs. In July, along with the publication of a new financial statement for fiscal 2018 showing revenues of $246 million, WWP received an updated score from the watchdog organization Charity Navigator, up to 86.45 out of 100 from 86.02 the previous year. Ive Ive never left the hospital grounds. It wasn't just about lavish all-hands gatherings, although those quickly became a thing of the past. His marriage fell apart as the result of the pressure, he said; he received personal threats. The organization slashed all-hands training costs from $987,000 in 2016 to $110,000 in 2019 for a staff of nearly 700, according to numbers provided to Military.com, in direct response to public criticism. Charity Navigator's rating for WWP has fluctuated over the years: It dipped down to two stars in 2010 as the organization grew, then briefly rose to a full four stars in 2017, reflecting the delayed arrival of 2015 data. Where is WWP located? Wounded Warrior Project says 80% of their money is spent on programs for veterans. These stories focused on fundraising, the salary of the CEO, exorbitant spending on staff activities, and the low percentage of contributions actually going to veteran services. All staff members flying to the charitys office at a military hospital in Germany traveled in business class, employees said. In 2012, after he had been working for the charity about a year, he had to have his right arm amputated because of lingering damage from Iraq. One employee was quoted as calling it "extremely extravagant. It made me sick, Mr. Kane said Friday in an interview. With Linnington at the helm, he said, WWP inspires confidence and appears to be working diligently to meet the real needs of its veterans population. Mar 10, 2016 Wounded Warrior Project executives fired in spending scandal. The Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is the largest veteran's charity in the United States. The organization has awarded an average of $14.6 million in grants each year since 2015, for a total of more than $80.9 million to 158 organizations since 2012, WWP spokesman Joe Plenzler said. Ideally, though, the ratio should be higher. So WW cut their spending- not to themselves, but to the people who needed their money most. But in its swift rise, it has also embraced aggressive styles of fund-raising, marketing and personnel management that have many current and former employees questioning whether it has drifted from its mission. All rights reserved. Today, after major reforms, what has changed for Americas injured soldiers? These organizations have always been known to spend very little on anything but the veterans and their families, and the general public will now be terribly suspicious and wary. With vaccine hesitancy remaining significant among his . But people close to the organization also say that, as WWP expanded from a tiny organization distributing free backpacks to wounded veterans in the early 2000s to become one of the most well resourced and influential veterans organizations within a decade, it generated more than its share of ill will. The real tragedy of this scandal is the impact it will have on donors willingness to give to the many worthwhile and more frugal organizations helping our veterans. The Warriors to Work program, for instance, was intended to provide one-on-one counseling to develop rsums and interview skills, then place veterans in suitable jobs. "I was always grateful for that mission," Linnington said. Have they proved reliable in the past? - Fox News wounded-warrior-projects-top-execs. The New York Times' recent investigation into the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) has sent rumbles throughout through the philanthropy community. "Wounded Warrior Project helped me reclaim my life," one reads, over a photo of single-amputee wounded veteran Sean Karpf, smiling proudly. "He rappelled down the side of a building at one of the all hands events. He has never spoken publicly about his disagreements with Mr. Nardizzi, and declined to be interviewed. We knew VVA had done pioneering work on Agent Orange, so we created a collaborative grant to pair them with TAPS to start gathering data on [toxic exposure] and to help ensure trans-generational knowledge transfer from the Vietnam-era generation of veterans to today's post-9/11 generation.". 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. The Wounded Warrior Project, WWP, is a not-for-profit charity that aims to assist wounded veterans with their needs. "We wrap our arms around those that want to help veterans now, versus looking to protect our brand at every inch and ounce of measure," he said. They wanted me to say W.W.P. But while Millette, who spoke with Military.com earlier this year, said he still thinks the organization tends to lean too hard on showcasing veterans with dramatic visible wounds in its publicity materials and public events, he also said he has observed a remarkable overall turnaround in the organization. Do the sources know the information? That moment in February was part of the building pressure by donors, veterans and supporters of the organization that culminated Thursday night in the abrupt firing of Mr. Nardizzi and his second in command, Al Giordano, who together earned nearly $1 million per year. Mr. Chick, who was fired in 2012 after a dispute with his supervisor, said he saw the Wounded Warrior Project help hundreds of veterans. As the backpack project grew, Mr. Melia hired a few employees, including Mr. Nardizzi, a lawyer who had never served in the military but was an executive for a small nonprofit, the United Spinal Association, which served disabled veterans. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck. Its a mind-set that keeps the sector small and dooms efforts from the start. That's because they include some promotional items, direct response advertising, and shipping and postage. Mr. Nardizzi took over the organization, based in Jacksonville, Fla., in 2009. The charity came under fire after an earlier CBS News investigation in January revealed large amounts of spending on administration, meetings, and travel. Mr. Kane said he lambasted Mr. Giordano for hiding behind a wounded veteran on camera and said he would cancel his donations. In recent years, that dated thinking has been torn apart, appropriately replaced by the expectation that this sector should be judged on how effectively organizations solve social and environmental problems. According to The Times, former employees claim the organization spent millions every year on travel, dinners, hotels and conferencesall of which were over-the-top and . A current ad campaign, "I am Living Proof," featured in a number of bold bus-stop ads near WWP's Washington, D.C., headquarters, shows wounded vets standing in a posture of confidence. In an email to big donors, a fundraiser for the organization . Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Recently, a social movement called Effective Altruism has been pushing the nonprofit sector to become more transparent and accountable. Notably, at its lowest point following the whistleblower reports and leadership churn, WWP's funding still dwarfed that of virtually every other organization in the space. Kaine, in the recent interview, also questioned Nardizzis apparent public absence while his organization has been under scrutiny. In 2016, they had a bit of controversy, when they fired s. CBS News' investigation into the Wounded Warrior Project's spending on veterans has sparked heated debate online. Have they proved reliable in the past? Millette, 41, who still lives in Jacksonville, Florida, where Wounded Warrior Project is headquartered, told Military.com he stands by all the claims he made about the organization -- $2,500 bar tabs and other prodigal spending at staff-only team-building events, a permissive "good old boys" atmosphere among leadership, and a tendency to push certain badly wounded veterans into the spotlight again and again for what appeared to be promotional purposes rather than for their benefit and well-being. A week later, he was back at work when a fistfight broke out between veteran mentors who had been drinking after one of his training sessions. See a recent article in the New York Times and a blog post from GuideStar CEO Jacob Herald. Chief Financial Officer . Millette, the former WWP staff member who publicly blew the whistle on the organization, said his decision to speak out came at great personal cost. His report slammed the organization for not being transparent with donors about tens of millions that had been placed in reserve and not spent; and for "excessive" amounts of money spent on travel, fundraising and staff activities. New York Times Reporter Paid $51 Million for Ryan Seacrest's LA . It was a very coercive conversation.. "Donors would be unhappy that so much of their money wasn't being used given the plight of veterans," he said. He also told CBS News that the charity did not spend money on alcohol or engages in any other kind of excessive spending. The organization initially denied the accusations and demanded retractions, but then went silent. The Walter Reed Army Medical Center neglect scandal refers to a series of allegations of unsatisfactory conditions, treatment of patients, and management at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) in Washington, D.C. culminating in two articles published by The Washington Post in February 2007. By the time the board met Thursday to dismiss the two men, contributions were down and it had in hand an internal investigation that convinced it that the top leadership had to go. Some of its own employees have criticized it, too. The Wounded Warrior Project cuts a different profile. The organization has yet to recover fully from a hemorrhage that saw fundraising drop from a peak of $373 million in 2015 to just $211 million in 2017. But whether those fixes went far enough is, as the video demonstrates, still not clear. The Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), a fast growing and media-savvy charity serving veterans, has recently been in the news and not in a good way. series about Walter Reed Army Medical Center. I read with disgust your slanted article on the Wounded Warrior Project. Wounded Warrior Project's Top Execs Fired After Spending Scandal Wounded Warrior Project Denies Claims of Waste, Lavish Spending Wounded Warrior Project Accused of Wasting Donor Money. But he acknowledged that was likely a function of WWP's phenomenally rapid growth and expansion. It contributes millions to smaller veterans groups. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital He was medevaced out of Iraq, but only nine days after his near-fatal injury, the Walter Reed staff discharged him into outpatient status. About 40 percent of the organizations donations in 2014 were spent on its overhead, or about $124 million, according to the charity-rating group Charity Navigator. Money poured in. I have met over 1,000 soldiers and their caregivers whose lives have been positively affected by the organization. Wounded Warrior Project rocked by fundraising scandal Wounded Warrior Project probed for lavish spending while vets suffer The U.S. Attorney's Office in Indiana has brought charges. Mr. Longoria said after he was fired, he fell into depression but was also relieved. Her comment was, Where have you been? And I said, What do you mean where have I been? Kurnyta noted the organization had a near-perfect score in transparency: 97 out of 100. Trace Adkins talks about his support of U.S. veterans through the Wounded Warrior Project in Rolling Stone's third Salute to . Already, more than $6.9 million in grants has been awarded for this fiscal year. And sometimes those employees are veterans.. During WWP's nadir and through its turnaround, its roster of wounded warriors and "family support members" has only grown -- a fact that speaks as much to the persistent and growing need as it does to the organization's success in the space. Erick Millette, an Iraq veteran, said he quit after growing disillusioned about his work with a program called Warrior Speak, which involved veterans telling their stories of healing to audiences. And it did not appear to prioritize collaboration with other veterans' organizations, taking criticism for relatively small grants it made to support other groups and for passing up opportunities to join forces for advocacy and shared knowledge. The organization was reportedly out of favor with some senior officials in the Pentagon, due to the public image it perpetuated of veterans as typically coming home from combat grievously wounded and with long-term needs. While Military.com was unable to review survey findings in full, Plenzler said the 2018 study also found participants overwhelmingly considered WWP to be effective in two areas on which organizational leaders have chosen to focus more sharply: advocacy for caregiver legislation (93%), and advocacy on legislation regarding veterans' medical conditions related to burn pit exposure on deployments (86%). There are fresh concerns that public support for ongoing military assistance may be waning. Can we corroborate the information? After Jesse Longoria recovered from a roadside bomb blast that nearly killed him in Iraq, he got a job with the organization training veterans to help other veterans. We put warriors on a pedestal and the nation wrapped its arms around that concept.. Today, on a list of 27 founders that was created by the charitys current leadership and handed out to all new employees, Mr. Melias name appears well below the name of the charitys for-profit fund-raising consultant. The Pentagon has not provided any public updates or said when the formal policy will be issued. Mr. Chick said he refused, but was ordered by his boss to write an email recommending the firing. Mr. Nardizzi fought back. On Tuesday, CBS News ran a story about the Wounded Warrior Project, claiming to have interviewed over 40 former employees who stated that spending was out of control at the organization. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. 7. Graphite 80/20 Poly/Cotton Left Chest/Sleeve Design Screenprint What we consider before using anonymous sources. But newly released numbers for fiscal 2018 show a bounce in the right direction, up 16% to $246 million. He was not in the room at the time but was held responsible for the fight, his boss at the time, Mr. Chick, said in an interview. Its television commercials with scenes of men, women and their families coping with deep emotional pain pull at the heart and purse strings. When wounded troops began returning from Iraq in 2003, Mr. Melia remembered how he had arrived in a stateside hospital with only his thin hospital gown, and began visiting military hospitals to distribute backpacks stuffed with socks, CD players, toothpaste and other items.