{"id":517295,"date":"2021-05-17T09:51:12","date_gmt":"2021-05-17T13:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=517295"},"modified":"2021-05-17T09:51:16","modified_gmt":"2021-05-17T13:51:16","slug":"racial-consultants-took-ppp-loans-intended-for-struggling-businesses-despite-industrys-boom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/racial-consultants-took-ppp-loans-intended-for-struggling-businesses-despite-industrys-boom\/","title":{"rendered":"Racial Consultants Took PPP Loans Intended For Struggling Businesses Despite Industry\u2019s Boom"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fracial-consultants-took-ppp-loans-intended-for-struggling-businesses-despite-industrys-boom%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=517295&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Closed-Sign.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p><span>Prominent diversity consulting firms received millions in taxpayer-backed, forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, despite the industry\u2019s boom.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) firms that received bailouts include Pollyanna, which has sent the nation\u2019s most exclusive private schools into an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.city-journal.org\/nyc-prep-school-admins-adopt-questionable-anti-racism-curriculum?wallit_nosession=1\"><span>uproar<\/span><\/a><span>, and the Kaleidoscope Group, which pushed wokeness at Coca-Cola, a Daily Wire review of federal records found.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>PPP loans were intended to offset the losses of businesses that could not fully operate during the pandemic. The pandemic <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalreserve.gov\/econres\/feds\/files\/2020089r1pap.pdf\"><span>resulted<\/span><\/a><span> in the permanent closure of \u201clikely below 200,000\u201d establishments, many of whom did not <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/money\/percent-businesses-ppp-loans\"><span>receive<\/span><\/a><span> PPP loans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>DEI firms <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.economist.com\/business\/2020\/11\/26\/social-unrest-has-fuelled-a-boom-for-the-diversity-industry\"><span>profited<\/span><\/a><span> greatly from the anti-racism movement that occurred simultaneously with the pandemic. Following the death of George Floyd, companies and educational institutions invested heavily in diversity training and consultants.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Among the recipients of PPP funds are firms who were busy throughout the pandemic providing racial training to government agencies, corporations, and schools. Some of the training is based in critical race theory, the ideology that says America is inherently racist.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Kaleidoscope Group, which has provided DEI consulting to some of the most notably \u201cwoke\u201d corporations such as Coca-Cola and Deloitte, collected <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalpay.org\/paycheck-protection-program\/the-kaleidoscope-group-llc-chicago-il\"><span>$498,240<\/span><\/a><span> in PPP loans. The firm also counts as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/kgdiversity.com\/clients\/\"><span>clients<\/span><\/a><span> large corporations such as Northrop Grumman, Discover, McDonald\u2019s, Progressive, and Comcast.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Coca-Cola\u2019s broader DEI <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/backlash-hits-coca-cola-after-accusations-of-anti-white-agenda\"><span>campaign<\/span><\/a><span> included hosting online anti-racism training for employees. One purported whistleblower released a portion of a\u00a0 training telling people to \u201ctry to be less white\u201d<\/span> <span>\u2014 although Coca-Cola company claims that that specific training was not part of its direct learning curriculum and was merely accessible through LinkedIn Learning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Deloitte has instituted similar \u201canti-racism\u201d training and told employees that \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/deloitte-tells-employees-microaggressions-are-considered-a-punishable-offense\"><span>microaggressions<\/span><\/a><span>\u201d are considered a punishable offense.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Newark-based BCT Partners received <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalpay.org\/paycheck-protection-program\/bct-partners-llc-newark-nj\"><span>$910,540<\/span><\/a><span> in PPP loans, according to FederalPay.org. Far from struggling, it is currently hiring for nine positions, according to its website.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>BCT Partners is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usaspending.gov\/search\/?hash=afe604ff9254234f9e31c8c2eb553f7f\"><span>contracted<\/span><\/a><span> with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to provide \u201cracial equity\u201d and \u201cunconscious bias\u201d workshops. In September 2020, the NSF spent $75,000 on a year-long contract with BCT Partners for a \u201cracial equity initiative.\u201d DHS signed a three-year-long contract with the firm for $42,000 to provide an \u201cunconscious bias workshop.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium (MAEC), meanwhile, has raked in cash from public schools.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>MAEC landed a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/campus\/md-school-district-to-spend-over-450000-on-anti-racist-audit\/\"><span>$454,680<\/span><\/a><span> contract with Maryland\u2019s Montgomery County Public Schools to conduct an \u201canti-racist\u201d audit during the coronavirus pandemic. A <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/campus\/prominent-equity-consulting-firm-funded-entirely-by-taxpayer-dollars\/\"><span>review<\/span><\/a><span> of the MAEC\u2019s financial records found that the group raked in $2 million solely in government grants between mid-2018 and mid-2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>MAEC collected <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalpay.org\/paycheck-protection-program\/mid-atlantic-equity-consortium-inc-bethesda-md\"><span>$202,229<\/span><\/a><span> in PPP loans, according to FederalPay.org. A spokeswoman for MAEC said the firm\u2019s application was \u201cconsistent with the program requirements\u201d and invoked former President Donald Trump:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"8\">\n<p><em><span>The PPP was created and administered by the Trump Administration. Our application was consistent with the program requirements. The application and the assistance it provided the organization were approved by the lender based upon the Trump Administration\u2019s guidelines. The PPP loan we received supported work from May through October 2020. The MCPS contract work began in January 2021.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Pollyanna found a steady revenue stream in the elite private schools favored by wealthy liberals. The firm has worked with New York City\u2019s Dalton School, Brearley School, and Bamford School, and with Harvard-Westlake in Los Angeles as well as private schools in Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Charlotte, and Providence, according to the firm\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/pollyanna-inc\"><span>LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Pollyanna collected <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalpay.org\/paycheck-protection-program\/pollyanna-inc-new-york-ny\"><span>$21,687<\/span><\/a><span> in PPP loans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>VisionSpring was hired by Cigna, one of the nation\u2019s largest health insurance providers, to provide DEI training. A report from<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/cigna-critical-race-theory-training-dont-say-brown-bag-lunch-mindful-religious-privilege\"><span>The Washington Examiner<\/span><\/a> <span>alleged that Cigna employees were \u201casked not to consider white men in hiring decisions.\u201d The health provider\u2019s DEI training discouraged employees from using words such as \u201cbrown bag lunch\u201d or \u201cmother\/father,\u201d and to be mindful of \u201creligious privilege.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>VisionSpring secured two PPP loans, each for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalpay.org\/paycheck-protection-program\/visionspring-inc-natick-ma\"><span>$20,600<\/span><\/a><span>. The first loan was collected in April 2020, the second in February of 2021.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Disruptive Equity Education Project (DEEP) is a for-profit firm that charges <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/disruptive-equity-education-project-deep.teachable.com\/p\/the-reckoning31111\"><span>$250<\/span><\/a><span> for a participant, or $4,000 to learn how to train others. It received a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2019\/05\/25\/teachers-allegedly-told-to-treat-black-students-as-victims-punish-whites\/\"><span>$175,000<\/span><\/a><span> contract from New York City\u2019s public schools in 2019; a city equity official said that equity training would not stop because of coronavirus.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>DEEP received <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalpay.org\/paycheck-protection-program\/disruptive-equity-education-project-llc-liverpool-ny\"><span>$54,638<\/span><\/a><span> in PPP funds. It is currently looking to hire five people, according to its <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/digdeepforequity.org\/join-our-team\/\"><span>website<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>A bevy of other DEI firms received PPP loans totaling almost three million dollars. <\/span><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody readability=\"8\">\n<tr>\n<th>Firm<\/th>\n<th>PPP $<\/th>\n<th>EIDL $<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>BCT Partners<\/td>\n<td>$910,540<\/td>\n<td>$150,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Kaleidoscope Group LLC<\/td>\n<td>$498,240<\/td>\n<td>$150,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>MAEC<\/td>\n<td>$202,229<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr readability=\"2\">\n<td>Disruptive Equity Education Project (DEEP)<\/td>\n<td>$54,638<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>VisionSpring<\/td>\n<td>$52,200<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Pollyanna<\/td>\n<td>$21,687<\/td>\n<td>$4,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"3\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>National Equity Project<\/td>\n<td>$623,900<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr readability=\"2\">\n<td>Crossroads Anti-Racism Organizing &#038; Training<\/td>\n<td>$167,702<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr readability=\"2\">\n<td>National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity<\/td>\n<td>$123,852<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr readability=\"2\">\n<td>Recenter Race &#038; Equity in Education<\/td>\n<td>$115,325<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr readability=\"2\">\n<td>Equity in Education Coalition<\/td>\n<td>$49,474<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr readability=\"2\">\n<td>Fellowship for Race and Equity in Education<\/td>\n<td>$43,600<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr readability=\"2\">\n<td>Center for Racial Equity in Education<\/td>\n<td>$37,200<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr readability=\"2\">\n<td>Center for Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning<\/td>\n<td>$26,665<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"3\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Total<\/th>\n<th>$2,927,252<\/th>\n<th>$304,000<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span>Congress created the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sba.gov\/funding-programs\/loans\/covid-19-relief-options\/paycheck-protection-program\/first-draw-ppp-loan\"><span>PPP loan program<\/span><\/a><span> \u201cto provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on payroll. First Draw PPP loans can be used to help fund payroll costs, including benefits, and may also be used to pay for mortgage interest, rent, utilities, worker protection costs related to COVID-19, uninsured property damage costs caused by looting or vandalism during 2020, and certain supplier costs and expenses for operations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Applicants to PPP loans were required to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sba.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2021-03\/BorrowerApplication2483ARPrevisions%20%28final%203-18-21%29-508.pdf\"><span>certify<\/span><\/a><span> that \u201cCurrent economic uncertainty makes this loan request necessary to support the ongoing operations of the Applicant.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Some of the jobs purportedly \u201cretained\u201d by PPP loans were apparently for part-time jobs<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>According to Pollyanna\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/projects.propublica.org\/nonprofits\/display_990\/473588638\/02_2021_prefixes_47-47%2F473588638_201912_990_2021021717709394\"><span>tax form<\/span><\/a><span>, the firm had one employee in 2019, though its PPP application claimed that a loan would retain four jobs. A Pollyanna spokeswoman told The Daily Wire that the PPP application \u201cproperly reflected the company\u2019s number of employees \u2014 including part-time employees.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>BCT Partners, DEEP, The Kaleidoscope Group, and VisionSpring did not respond to The Daily Wire\u2019s request for comment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i><span>member<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prominent diversity consulting firms received millions in taxpayer-backed, forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, despite the industry\u2019s boom.\u00a0\u00a0Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) firms that received bailouts include Pollyanna, which has &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2278287,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Closed-Sign.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Racial Consultants Took PPP Loans Intended For Struggling Businesses Despite Industry\u2019s Boom","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-517295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Closed-Sign.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Racial Consultants Took PPP Loans Intended For Struggling Businesses Despite Industry\u2019s Boom","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2278287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}