The call went out in January 2012 that if YouthPride did not raise some $40,000, the youth LGBT nonprofit would be forced to close its doors. After the public plea for funds, it was discovered YouthPride did not have a five-member board of directors in violation of its bylaws and that a full board had not met since December 2010.
Now, a year later, the agency is once again sending out fundraising emails — the most recent, sent Dec. 21, has the subject line “Acceptance is a Precious Gift” — but leaders still refuse to grant interviews and either can’t or won’t list a five-member board.
After YouthPride Executive Director Terence McPhaul made a public plea for funds in early 2012, an independent task force volunteered time to investigate the financial and leadership struggles of YouthPride and determined the agency was deep in debt and faced possible state and federal fines for not filing tax forms on time.