The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLM GNF), which has served as a clearinghouse for the movement’s donations, obtained a bulk of BLM’s vast fortune, nearly $80 million, in 2020. By June 2023, that windfall has dwindled to $29 million, according to BLM GNF’s latest publicly available tax return.

BLM GNF’s finances faced intense scrutiny, in particular, over the purchase of a $6 million mansion in Los Angeles, ostensibly for a black arts fellowship. The group still maintains that the so-called “Creator’s House” was bought with the intent to provide studio space for recipients of its Black Joy Creators Fellowship.

BLM’S ART FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM, CITED AS REASON FOR $6M MANSION PURCHASE, NOWHERE TO BE FOUND

After co-founder Patrisse Cullors stepped down in 2021, critics of the decentralized movement began questioning who leads BLM GNF and oversees its assets.

Asked to identify the current executive director and chief financial officer, the group told the Washington Examiner that BLM GNF, today, is “managed and governed” by its three-person board of directors: Cicley Gay, D’Zhane Parker, and Shalomyah Bowers. BLM GNF says it practices “a model of decentralized leadership to place focus on the Movement over a single figurehead.”

With no single leader in the fallout of Cullors’s resignation, a power struggle had ensued for control over what was left of the Floyd-era largesse.

Black Lives Matter Grassroots, an offshoot of BLM GNF, separated and sued its progenitor, claiming that the global foundation siphoned off more than $10 million in donations intended for the grassroots group.

BLM’S MILLIONS UNACCOUNTED FOR AFTER LEADERS QUIETLY JUMPED SHIP

The lawsuit against BLM GNF, however, was ultimately thrown out, with a judge ruling that BLM Grassroots failed to establish that it was entitled to any of the donated funds at issue or that the defendants engaged in self-enriching.

To this day, BLM GNF strongly disputes the allegations of mismanaged funds, telling the Washington Examiner, “To be clear, those are unfounded allegations that were dismissed as frivolous and found to be untrue by a court of law in 2023.”

“In fact, BLM GNF has undergone four independent audits of its finances, and an independent auditor has confirmed that there is no mismanagement of funds and that BLM is in good and healthy financial standing,” the group said.

BLM GNF emphasized that no state regulator or attorney general has ever confirmed or substantiated any such claims. “Therefore, publishing a story that suggests there are mismanaged funds would be defamatory,” BLM GNF said. “If your intention is to pursue a story about mismanagement of funds, we would suggest redirecting your attention to Tides, which stole over $33 million of BLM’s funds and is currently involved in active litigation regarding the same.”

According to BLM GNF’s lawsuit against the left-wing Tides Foundation, the global BLM group had entered a fiscal sponsorship memorandum of understanding with the Tides Center, a 501(c)(3) acting as a pass-through funding channel. “Based on Tides’ representation to BLM GNF, Tides should have transferred that $33.4 million to BLM GNF upon request,” the complaint filed in May 2024 says.

BLACK LIVES MATTER SUES DARK MONEY GROUP FOR ALLEGEDLY MISMANAGING $33 MILLION

BLM GNF, which at one time fell out of compliance with several state-level charity regulators, faced legal threats from authorities in California, Washington, and Indiana. As a result, BLM GNF was forced to temporarily cease all online fundraising activity while it resolved its compliance issues.

Last year, BLM Grassroots, now a standalone entity, was slapped with a delinquency notice from California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, for failing to comply with state financial disclosure regulations.

“Failure to timely file required reports violates Government Code section 12586 and may result in the suspension or revocation of your registration,” Bonta’s office wrote in an August 2024 letter warning of such penalties, including loss of the group’s tax-exempt status and late fees for which BLM Grassroots leadership would be held personally liable.

Bonda’s office also prohibited the Los Angeles-based nonprofit from soliciting charitable contributions, specifically in California, until it produced its missing documents. BLM Grassroots, however, continued to solicit online donations through the Democratic Party’s premier fundraising platform, ActBlue.

HOW ACTBLUE MAKES MONEY OFF DISRUPTIVE PROTEST POLITICS

According to the statewide compliance database, BLM Grassroots eventually submitted the requested renewal paperwork in October but not copies of its 2022 IRS Form 990 series, as instructed, given that the group did not file a federal tax return that year.

It appears that the delinquency matter was resolved despite this discrepancy. BLM Grassroots, which is now considered “Current,” and Bonta’s office were contacted for clarification.

The group’s 2022 registration renewal report says it had $0 in revenue, expenses, and assets that accounting period, though the Tides Foundation reportedly earmarked $8.7 million in funding for BLM Grassroots between 2020 and 2022 to support local BLM chapters across the country.

The next year, BLM Grassroots reported $3.95 million already in the bank on its initial 2023 tax filing and marked the windfall as “Funds transferred from Fiscal Sponsor” below an amendment explanation. BLM Grassroots, explaining why it amended its 2023 tax return, told the Internal Revenue Service that it sought “To correct the reporting of beginning asset balance due to an accounting error for donations and grants received under fiscal sponsorship contract.”

According to internal emails obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, the Tides Foundation awarded One Love Global, an organization focused on racial equity, millions in grant money for the benefit of BLM Grassroots, formerly a fiscally sponsored project of One Love Global. Several grants to One Love Global are reflected on the Tides Foundation’s tax returns: $1.39 million in 2020, $100,000 in 2021, and $7.25 million in 2022. Then that $8.7 million went seemingly unaccounted for.

BLM Grassroots director Melina Abdullah kept the fiscal sponsorship arrangement “intentionally private,” a BLM insider told the Free Beacon. “I remember specifically [Abdullah] made mention that she didn’t want to incorporate Black Lives Matter Grassroots because she didn’t want folks to know how the money was moving,” a second BLM source said.

A private investigation commissioned by a local BLM chapter found that BLM Grassroots was entrusted with funding from the Tides Collective Action Fund for the purpose of developing an action network meant to grow new BLM chapters and distribute funding at the local level.

Following the apparent disappearance of these donations, BLM Grassroots defectors alleged that Abdullah dipped into the organization’s funds to pay for personal expenses, including a secret retreat to Jamaica without budgetary approval or notifying the entire team beforehand.

Abdullah denied the allegations of financial malfeasance in a 2022 video interview.

According to its 2023 tax form, BLM Grassroots does not have a written whistleblower policy, a document retention policy, or a conflict of interest policy in place. Its financial statements are not independently audited either. BLM Grassroots did not answer an inquiry asking if it plans on implementing any of these oversight practices.

Under the form’s “Activities & Governance” section, BLM Grassroots reported five members on its board of directors but later only named two officers when instructed to disclose the identities of all board members. Abdullah, who signed the tax return under penalty of perjury, reported that not all members of the group’s governing body were provided a compete copy of the form before filing.

BLACK LIVES MATTER’S FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY MATTERS

As for BLM GNF, its charity status is listed as “In Process” in California’s registry.

When asked if BLM GNF, which was previously deemed delinquent, is up to date with reporting requirements, the organization said state solicitation forms were submitted by the May 15 deadline and are currently under review.

“[BLM GNF] is in good standing and remains current with all required reporting obligations,” the group told the Washington Examiner.

Processing of these papers may take several weeks to complete, BLM GNF noted.

BLM GNF has created an online Transparency Center in an effort to increase accountability and “ensure transitions in leadership are clear in the future.” The group says it is working to tighten compliance procedures and build out a formal leadership infrastructure.