Giving Compass' Take:

• Marc Gunther discusses the controversy sparked when, a few months after stepping down as CEO of the Humane Society of the United States in disgrace, Wayne Pacelle returns to the animal welfare movement. 

• Should Wayne Pacelle get a second chance? Is there enough accountability in the nonprofit sector? 

• Learn about funding in the #MeToo era. 

Less than six months after stepping down as CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, Wayne Pacelle is returning to the animal welfare movement, this time as a part of a political action committee called Animal Wellness Action.

Pacelle left the Humane Society (HSUS) in February under a cloud, as a flurry of accusations of sexual harassment led to revolts among donors and staff–although he retained the support of a majority of the HSUS board until the very end.

The new political action committee, which was registered in May by David Harvilicz, a lawyer and entrepreneur, is affiliated with a small nonprofit called the Animal Wellness Foundation, whose president is his wife sister, Dr. Annie Harvilicz. Dr. Harvilicz is the founder and chief medical officer of a veterinary clinic and pet care company called Animal Wellness Centers, based in Los Angeles. Marty Irby, a former executive at the Humane Society who oversaw its equine protection and rural outreach departments, is the PAC’s executive director.

His comeback is resurfacing old questions about how the board of HSUS handled the charges against him, while raising new ones about how HSUS intends to work with Pacelle in the future. With revenues of $230m last year, HSUS is the US’s leading advocacy group for animals.

In talking points distributed to staff [see below], HSUS said it would decide on a “case by case basis” whether to work with Pacelle. By email, Anna West, an HSUS spokeswoman, added: “We will never require any individual staff members to work with Mr. Pacelle or his new organization.”

Last week, Alison S.*, a lawyer who has worked at HSUS since 2010, and one of the women who accused Pacelle of misconduct, resigned from HSUS, citing the board’s reluctance to distance itself from Pacelle. In her resignation email, Alison wrote that the board’s handling of the situation has “made it impossible for me to stay at HSUS and be in good health.”

Read the full article about Wayne Pacelle by Marc Gunther at Nonprofit Chronicles.