Democracy Center Needs to Look Hard at Itself
November 5, 1998 | Read Time: 2 minutes
To the Editor:
Thank you for the well-balanced reporting of the recent developments at the Center for Living Democracy (“Media and Advocacy Group Aided by Foundations Suffers Employee Exodus,” October 8). In my experience as director of the Living Democracy Learning Center from April 1997 to September 1998, it was a very painful time for everyone involved.
Since the article was reported, there have been more personnel changes at the center that might be of interest to the philanthropic community. On September 11, the Center for Living Democracy consisted of Frances Moore Lappé and 17 other staff members. At the time of the writing of this letter, just four of those 17 people remain at the center. . . . Among those who left are people who formerly held the positions of chief financial officer, development director, coordinator of corporate giving, communications director, Learning Center director, and the American News Service’s marketing and distribution director and national account executive.
While the events of the month of September, including the mass resignations and the act of violence against our executive director, made for a timely news story, the fact is that there are patterns of staff turnover that have existed in the organization since its inception. In my 18 months at the center — some of the most stable in the organization’s history — we still experienced enormous personnel losses. In the short time of my tenure, we lost a managing director, two management-information-systems directors, the American News Service’s marketing director, a Learning Center assistant director, an American News Service account executive, and a development associate.
So Frances Moore Lappé, Benjamin Barber, and the rest of the board can continue the process of the past by quickly filling our chairs while they are still warm. Or they can stop, take a look over their shoulders, see that very few people are behind them, and ask themselves what they need to do differently. The organization’s life may well depend on their choosing the latter path.
Steven J. Fortier
Alstead, N.H.
