Pillar Nonprofit board relents, agrees to resign in April

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The board of directors for a troubled non-profit network in London has promised to resign in April to make way for new leadership.

“The work of the current board of directors will conclude in April 2023 and no member will seek re-election. We will continue to fulfill our legal and fiduciary responsibilities until a new board is elected and installed,” Pillar Nonprofit Network board chair Nicole Spriet said in a statement posted on the organization’s website.

In the fall, board members resisted calls for them to resign en masse, although some planned to in April anyway. The new statement doesn’t explain the change of heart and Spriet could not be reached for comment Friday.

A community advisory panel created in the fall, “will be seeking board candidates who understand Pillar’s role in advocating for and supporting the nonprofit and broader social impact sector toward social and economic recovery,” Spriet said in the statement.

The organization has been in turmoil and the target of community anger after the sudden and publicly unexplained departure of chief executive officer Mojdeh Cox in July, about a year after she was hired following a national search.

Cox alleges she was fired without cause and was walked out of the building “like a criminal.”

Pillar partners and other community leaders called on Pillar’s board to explain the departure. The controversy grew after two vice-presidents, who were appointed to share the role of interim chief executive, resigned.

In the fall, Maureen Cassidy, at the time a city councilllor, took over as interim chief executive, as Pillar members and others renewed calls for a general membership meeting and the resignation of the entire board.

The board resisted those demands, alleging directors were being bullied.

The announcement posted on the website also names the seven members of the community advisory panel: Al Day of the N’Amerind Friendship Centre, Jennifer Martino from Crouch Neighbourhood Resource Centre, Carl Cadogan of the London Black History co-ordinating committee, Kapil Lakhotia of the London Economic Development Corp., Andrew Chunilall from Community Foundations of Canada, Lynn Davis of Alegria 3 Inc. and Stephen Bolton of Libro Credit Union.

The panel will help recruit the slate of directors to be voted on at the annual meeting in April, the current board says.

Board chair Mary Alikakos has stepped down as chair and Spriet is the acting chair, the statement said.

Pillar offers training, including governance training, for other non-profit organizations, and advocates for the sector. Another statement posted on the organization’s website Jan. 4 notes the turmoil of the past several months,

“In the past five months, our organization has experienced significant disruption and change; through it all, the team hasn’t stopped amplifying the good work happening in the sector,” the statement says.