September 15, 2004
To Our Food & Beverage Industry Associates and Colleagues,
By now you've almost certainly seen the accounts in the news media about mismanagement of the James Beard Foundation finances. We'd like to talk with you directly about the situation. The Board of Trustees of The James Beard Foundation deeply regrets the breach of trust that has occurred, and we are doing everything we can to rectify the situation. Upon learning the results of the internal audit by an independent accounting firm that the Board hired in May, 2004, we have taken immediate action to improve and implement much needed checks and balances.
Trustee George Sape was elected to the position of Board Chairman. Trustee Diane Kern will serve as Vice Chair and interim Executive Director, and Trustee Robert Jones will serve as Vice Chair, and Chair of the Finance Committee. Trustee Anne Byrd is Treasurer and Chair of the Scholarship Committee. Founding Trustee Kathleen Perry will serve as Secretary. The Board will soon begin a search for a paid Executive Director. A new accounting firm has been hired. The Board continues to cooperate with the NY State Attorney General's office on this investigation.
We are extremely grateful and humbled by the outpouring of support from our sponsors, benefactors, volunteers, professional colleagues and members, who like all of us, want to see this matter put to rest. We do not want the mission or any of the Foundation's programs tarnished by the actions of any individual.
What we want to assure everyone is this:
The James Beard Foundation is financially solvent. All programs are proceeding as planned.
The integrity of the James Beard Foundation Awards, one of the most important and visible programs of the Foundation, is not in question, nor have the Awards themselves been implicated in the audit or investigation. Trustees and Foundation staff do not vote on awards, nor is service to the James Beard Foundation criterion for being considered for an award. Since their inception, the Awards have been overseen by committees and boards made up of independent industry professionals. The James Beard Foundation Awards are not a fundraiser for the organization. The costs of administering, producing and managing the awards is paid for by money raised through sponsorship, ticket sales and entry fees.
The reporting in the media that only $29,000 of Foundation funds was given toward culinary scholarships in 2003 is incomplete. It represents the amount the Foundation awarded in scholarships specifically from its General Operating Fund. In addition to this amount, in 2003 the Beard Foundation awarded $112,250 in scholarships from money raised at out-of-House events. We also administered $70,438 worth of tuition waivers donated by culinary schools. Since 1998, the total amount of scholarship dollars awarded from money raised at out-of-House events and from the Foundation's operating fund is $823,649.
In the coming weeks and months, the entire James Beard Foundation family will be working together to reach out to our industry to reassure everyone that we are moving forward and to reaffirm and strengthen the Foundation's mission to support and promote the culinary arts.
Respectfully,
George P. Sape
Chairman of the Board, The James Beard Foundation
Chef2Chef News Desk