Aug 02, 2024 09:03 PM IST
Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO and president of LGBTQ non-profit GLAAD, called herself the “financial steward” of the organisation.
The CEO of a leading US-based non-profit is under fire following an explosive report on her lavish spendings from the organization’s accounts in order to fuel her first-class travels and even remodel her home office. Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO advocacy group Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), said she takes her top job “very seriously” and that the organisation will update its procedures.
According to the report, the LGBTQ advocacy group paid for a seven-day stay at a seven-bedroom chalet in Switzerland for Sarah Kate Ellis and her colleagues in January 2023. The luxury stay costs nearly half a million dollars to rent for the week. Ellis and her team were on their way to the World Economic Forum in Davos.
GLAAD even paid for a day of skiing for the group, according to documents accessed by NYT as well as interviews with former and current employees of the non-profit.
In another shocking revelation, Ellis reportedly spent $20,000 to remodel in home office at her home in Long Island. The home office upgrade also included a new chandelier. Out of the $20,000, Ellis allegedly got nearly $18,000 reimbursed by her employer.
Born and raised in New York, Ellis joined GLAAD a decade ago after working as a media executive. She gets a base salary of $441,000 with a 5 per cent increase very year, the NYT report said.
Air tickets for family, 30 first-class flights, $15,000 cottage stay
As per her employment contract, Ellis’ was entitled to get air tickets for her family – her wife and two children – to accompany her to trips up to four times a year, the NYT investigation said. The CEO was also reportedly given an annual allowance of $25,000 to rent a vacation home in Provincetown in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Ellis, according documents reviewed by NYT, sought reimbursement from her employer for over 30 first-class flights.
The report also said that in 2022, she sent a $15,000 bill to GLAAD for her three-week stay at a cottage in Provincetown.
GLAAD defends CEO Sarah Kate Ellis
GLAAD staunchly defended its CEO Richard Ferraro and denied that Ellis travelled luxuriously. Richard Ferraro, a GLAAD spokesman, told NYT that Ellis and her team’s Davos trip was funded through a donation from the Ariadne Getty Foundation, but added that an “administrative oversight” led to the organisation paying for the team’s skiing in Switzerland. He said Ellis reimbursed the amount to GLAAD.
What did the CEO say?
Calling herself GLAAD’s “financial steward”, Ellis said in a statement, as quoted by New York Times: “I take my role as GLAAD’s financial steward incredibly seriously, and we’ll continue updating our procedures to keep pace with the organization’s rapid growth.”
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