On Oct 26, 2018, at 4:13 PM, Michael Johnson <michael.johnson@uwgc.

org> wrote:

Dear Members of the Board,

I was excited about the opportunity to come and take this United Way to a new level as we
embark on reducing poverty in our region. Not only did I leave a prominent nonprofit
executive role, but my wife left her job and we moved our family to this region and purchased
a home. I was excited to serve as the 1st African American President & CEO in the 100 plus
year history of United Way of Greater Cincinnati. I felt I could make a difference in this role. I
have worked with 10 board presidents in 3 different states, receiving outstanding reviews. I’ve
been a successful nonprofit leader for more than 20 years. I have never heard of a CEO having
to run decisions through a subordinate. I have never been micromanaged and disrespected
the way I am being now. I have communicated my concerns in writing. I’ve tried to
communicate my concerns to the others in a careful manner, but to no avail. I have no other
choice but to raise this issue with the full board, as I have received subtle threats from the
Board Chair. Recently, I had the most humiliating experience in a professional setting, as she
has blatantly disrespected and attacked my character. She is unfairly attacking my credibility
with key stakeholders and creating challenges within our organization.

Run decisions through the Chief Strategy Officer: I am being pressured by our Board
Chair to “run things” through our Chief Strategy Officer (CSO). I am unfamiliar with an
organizational structure where everything is run through a subordinate, regardless of their
title. I am open to receiving and requesting advice and counsel, but the current structure
does not give this kind of authority and it’s a model I think will set us up for failure. I have
more than 10 years of experience as a nonprofit CEO with an MBA in Global
Management. So forcing me to report to a subordinate, who has no formal college
education and only one year of nonprofit management experience, gives me great pause.
Despite this, I tried my best to work with our CSO and began meeting with her weekly,
running my ideas by her, as directed by the Board Chair. These one on one strategy
meetings with the CSO appear designed to get my thoughts and ideas and then are shared
in a manner that creates confusion and division among the executive team and helps “stir
the pot” as stated from a letter I received from a concerned employee. I am being asked to
make Tina McVeigh our Chief Operating Officer and my number two in command. I cannot
agree to this, unless you give me this directive in writing, and I am happy to share my
reasons, some of which are discussed below.

Undue Hiring Pressure from Board Chair: I believe our Board Chair is too involved in the
day to day operations of our organization. She is placing undue pressure on our team to do
things her way, and overreaching her authority. I have documented communication
between us that demonstrate the undue influence and pressure she is bestowing upon the
operations of the organization. One example is the hiring of our Chief Development Officer;
a position that currently reports directly to me. We both agreed to have a selection
committee. I developed a plan and a timeline with the VP of Human Resources. On August
24th, I texted Julia, after learning from our Chief Strategy Officer that Julia overturned my
decision without talking with me and placed Tina on the selection committee with the
volunteers. I voiced my concerns in writing. Julia informed me that Tina was special among
the other Vice President’s and was the ranking VP. I told Julia that our organizational
structure and her pay grade do not reflect this. Julia still over ruled my decision and I was
told that any Human Resources changes had to be “run by” Tina, as she was the senior
leader over Human Resources. I agreed to comply, despite sharing my concerns about this.
Julia was also adamant about having an outside nonprofit leader grade the final
candidates. I was concerned about confidentiality of the candidates. I shared my concerns
in writing, called her, and told her that this is not a best practice and that I opposed this
idea. She rejected my concerns and I accepted it. I also shared my concerns in writing about
a selection committee member she chose to be on the committee, who was a reference for
her preferred candidate. I asked Julia if this person could be removed because there was a
conflict of interest. I received a letter from a colleague at United Way warning me that the
process was stacked in favor of Julia’s preferred candidate and that the aforementioned
committee member was telling people who would get the job. I gave the letter to Julia. She
rejected my request to cure the conflict, and I accepted it. After going through the process,
I informed Julia of my decision. She responded to me and asked in writing, how my
executive team voted and who they voted for. I then shared with her the votes and
informed her that I was not going to hire the person she preferred and gave my reason why,
and after that I started to feel extensive pressure from her.
Hostile Work Environment: Soon after the selection of the Chief Development Officer, I
began receiving subtle threats of being marginalized for not falling in line with Julia’s
recommendations. For example, I was informed by Julia that she has fired two male
CEO’s. She began to tell me how she ousted a very prominent male leader at the Chamber
of Commerce and referenced how he was always “shaking hands and kissing babies.” She
suggested that I slow down on some of that same behavior and directed me to reduce my
presence in the community and social media. I was appalled by the comment, especially
after she began telling me how women need to take on leadership roles in the C-Suite
across the city and how it was important for Tina and other women around me to feel
empowered. At the time, I reminded her that our executive team is made up of mostly
women, except for Ross and myself and that 70% of our employees are women. It was clear
to me that she expected me to take a secondary role in the organization and elevate the
women around me. She has been extremely focused on Tina’s role as being the COO.
I am not feeling heard and I don’t feel empowered in my role. Julia is creating division
among the executive team, and she is acting as the CEO. I was hired to be of service to this
community, but I don’t believe I was hired with the right intentions based on what is playing
out. My previous experience is being discounted by our Chair and she informed me that my
“success in other places won’t work here.” She has stated, "you need to fall in
line" effectively resulting in me being nothing more than a figure head for United Way.
Being Referred to as an Angry Man: On October 15, 2018, I sent a letter to members of
my executive team concerning issues that I wanted to document and raise with them. Julia
shared with me that my memo was forwarded to her. After conversing with her about the
memo, she told me the memo was nothing more than me fighting for “control” and told me
to just stop it, listen to people, shut up, and put my head down. She told me I was nothing
more than an angry man and referred to me as a boxer in a ring. She also asked me several
times, “What are you going to do?” and pointed her finger towards me. I told her that I
offered a path forward in a memo that I sent to her and other board members, and she
rejected my recommendations. I asked her if I could leave the meeting because I had an
appointment with the Cincinnati Bengals, and then I left for the meeting. I was very shaken
by this altercation and called a friend to pray with me.
Transition of E-Team Members: It is common that when new CEO’s are hired, some senior
executives transition out for a variety of reasons. I have started to see this trend in many
other organizations in this region with new or fairly recent CEO hires, like Cincinnati
Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, and the Freedom Center, to
name a few. I committed dozens of hours trying to work with this team, meeting with them
one on one, taking them to lunch, and meeting weekly with them. Within weeks of my hire,
the board chair was already telling me that I needed to cater to them and keep them happy,
because they needed my attention. Please note, upon my hire, I was informed that two
members of the executive team would be retiring in the near future and one was already
looking for a new job, so that is coming to fruition. While their commitment and expertise
has served this organization well, I believe that these transitions are good for the
organization and will allow me an opportunity to create a team which will provide renewed
energy and a commitment towards a new agenda. Obviously changes are necessary, given
the state of affairs that, unfortunately, preceded my arrival. In my last meeting with our
Board Chair she threatened that if I did not “beg” these folks to stay that it would be
“catastrophic” for me.

United Way Key Initiatives at Risk: I was made aware early in my tenure that two of our
key signature United Way initiatives, The Employer Round Table and the Child Poverty
Collaborative, were at risk. I believe that these two initiatives may transition to some of our
partnering organizations. However, I think a serious discussion with our key volunteers is
needed, because these decisions will have an impact on United Way’s poverty agenda
moving forward. Our Board Chair is telling me to stand down as other organizations snatch
these programs away from us. The two final candidates for my job at United Way have
coordinated an effort to steer key United Way initiatives away from us and our Board Chair
will not allow me fight for these programs and resources. I would strongly suggest that you
pay attention to this, because our staff is pleading with me to address this issue, but I am
being told to stand down.

The Condition of United Way Requires Change: I am disappointed to report that I feel
misled. During my interview process, I was not informed about the unprecedented cuts
made to United Way staff over the years or the recent campaign trends and cuts we would
be facing, plus the role that I would play as your CEO in solving these challenges. I did not
know that this United Way had such financial and structural challenges when I took the job,
or that I would have to cut so many jobs to correct these problems. The Board Chair is an
accounting partner. She knew the shape of the organization, and that should have been
shared with me so I could help with developing a path forward. Well run organizations do
not recruit and hire a new leader knowing that his/her first order of business will be to lay
off large groups of people causing discord in the organization. That is not a good recipe for
success. I am very disappointed that under Julia’s leadership that is the position I was put
in. These financial challenges should have been addressed before I took the job. However, I
am committed to addressing these challenges and turning around the organization, as long
as I am allowed to lead. But in order to allow me to do so, I am asking the board to address
these concerns.

Path Forward: These next few months are going to be challenging for United Way as we
are preparing to make 15-20% cuts to agencies, and we will have to lay off more than a
dozen people from our workforce. These issues will be hard on a lot of people, including
hundreds of children, families and individuals we serve in our community. There will be
complaints and criticism. We need to be united on this process. I am disappointed by the
aforementioned items. I did not expect to have to face them when I joined the
organization. But, I am capable of handling these challenges and making this organization
great. However, I cannot do so if Julia continues to act as the CEO and insists that I take a
back seat to Tina. My employment agreement clearly states that I am the president and
CEO and that I report to the Board – not just the Board Chair. Therefore, I am reporting to
the Board, that I have serious concerns regarding the health of the organization and Julia’s
role in it. While I understand her term ends in six months, these next six months are
critical. A lot of damage can be done to the organization in that time, if this situation is not
resolved now!
I hope I am not retaliated against for sharing my concerns and that we can come up with a
resolution to the concerns I have raised. This community is depending on us to do
so. However, it is clear to me that Julia is doing her best to marginalize my role in the
organization. In so doing, she is preventing me from doing my job and threatening the
success of the organization. At this point, I feel I have been terminated from my position as
President and CEO, and Julia has taken on that role and dispersed my duties to others.

I call your attention to my employment agreement which provides for severance in the
event of termination. If it is the consensus of the board that the solution is a fresh start,
then I will accept that decision and we can work toward a smooth transition per our
employment agreement.

If I am staying, I need to be able to act as the President and CEO. I will no longer meet with
Julia one on one. Because she clearly has a discriminatory motive against me based upon
her own statements, and I have now complained about this discrimination, I suggest that
meetings with her will need to include 2 other members of the board of our collective
choice to protect everyone involved. I also ask that she be restricted from contacting my
team without my permission, since there has been a history of her undermining my ability to
lead when she gives the appearance she is the CEO. I struggled and prayed before sending
this letter, but I am compelled by my contract to protect the stakeholders of United Way of
Greater Cincinnati.

Thanks for taking the opportunity to understand my aforementioned thoughts and

concerns.