Giving Compass' Take:

· The board of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation has been considered weak until recently when they put their CEO on paid leave. Nonprofit Chronicles reports that the foundation's workplace culture is being evaluated, along with Emmett Carson's role in toleration of harassment and abuse.

· How can an abusive workplace culture negatively affect employees working there?

·  Read more about sexual harassment in the workplace. 

Too many nonprofit boards are weak. The board of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation was reputed to be one of them. That changed, dramatically, when the board put Emmett Carson, the foundation’s CEO, on paid leave while it conducts what certainly appears to be a serious investigation into the workplace culture of the foundation, and Carson’s role in tolerating harassment and abuse.

Immodestly, it’s safe to say that this would not have happened without the reporting on the weird and outrageous behavior of Mari Ann Loijens, the foundations’ chief fundraiser, which went on for more than a decade. The Chronicle of Philanthropy published the story, headlined A Star Performer Created A ‘Toxic’ Culture at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Insiders Say, last week. Megan O’Neil, the Chronicle’s News Editor, contributed crucial reporting and has kept on top of developments since then.

My reporting–and what I’ve heard from SVCF people since then–leaves me with little doubt about how things will unfold. Carson knew what was going on, according to numerous insiders. Staff members told him about Loijens’ unprofessional behavior, or they tried to tell him and got the brushoff. The lawyers looking into the foundation will learn that, if they don’t know it already. No one need call upon Sherlock Holmes to solve this mystery.

Read the full article about Emmett Carson and workplace culture by Marc Gunther at Nonprofit Chronicles.