Baltimore Children and Youth Fund CEO Alysia Lee questioned hiring a white employee on the basis of her race and wanted to keep certain financial information hidden from city hall, the fund’s former vice president of finance told Spotlight on Maryland in an interview.
BCYF is a non-profit organization responsible for delivering millions of taxpayer dollars to youth-oriented organizations in Baltimore City. Funding for BCYF is enshrined in the city charter thanks to a 2016 ballot measure, meaning the fund is guaranteed taxpayer support every year with no sunset date.
Bennice Thayer, a Black woman, previously served as the vice president of finance for BCYF. Thayer told Spotlight on Maryland she received pushback from Lee when she suggested hiring a white woman to be her controller.
“I wanted to have her work for me. She was my controller,” Thayer said. “And the comment was, ‘you know, well, well, she’s white.’ And I said, ‘so what? She’s excellent.’”
According to Thayer, Lee claimed the white controller candidate was “not really going to belong” at BCYF and predicted the woman was “going to cry” if she worked there. Despite Lee’s alleged hesitation, Thayer hired the candidate and said she became an “instrumental” part of the BCYF team after she was hired.
“I’ve never worked with anybody who, who knew as much or did as well in accounting,” Thayer said. “And I’ve been doing it for over 30 years. I mean, this woman was phenomenal.”
A spokesperson for BCYF refuted Thayer’s allegation.
“BCYF has never questioned the hiring of any employee based on race. BCYF is committed to fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environment that reflects the community we serve,” the BCYF spokesperson wrote in a statement.
The Baltimore City Office of Equity and Civil Rights told Spotlight on Maryland it is unable to confirm or deny the existence of an investigation into the matter due to city law.
Thayer said the entire BCYF finance department, including the white controller, were terminated shortly after Thayer shared the fund’s line-by-line spending reports with the Baltimore City Mayor’s Office.
“As soon as I shared it, [Lee] and the development director said, ‘why would you send them that kind of information? And how could you send them an Excel spreadsheet of that? And why would you give them that at a level of detail?’” Thayer said. “I said, ‘well, you know, they needed more information.’”
A spokesperson for the fund said they are “unaware of the specific scenario” referenced by Thayer.
“[BCYF] strictly follows all necessary protocols and procedures as is related to the oversight of the fund. Given this standard, BCYF has never and would never discourage designated employees from sharing financial information about the fund with the appropriate regulatory bodies,” the spokesperson said.
BCYF’s spending has come under scrutiny since a Spotlight on Maryland investigation revealed the fund paid for 100 local activists to go on an all-expense-paid trip to Alabama in early 2024. Thayer said the trip was budgeted at $250,000 and led her to raise concerns with Lee. BCYF did not confirm the cost of the trip when reached via email.
The fund’s 2024 travel expenses extended beyond the Alabama trip. BCYF paid for several of its board members, including a high-ranking official in Mayor Brandon Scott’s office, to travel to Missouri for a conference in November. Thayer told Spotlight on Maryland Lee also took a “cohort” of individuals to Oakland, Calif. in 2024 for a “DEI” initiative.
A contract between BCYF and the National Equity Project, which is based in Oakland, shows the fund paid $35,000 to NEP for a series of “learning sessions” and resources. The payment also covered two “retreats,” one in-person and one virtual.
There is no structure in place that mandates routine city audits of BCYF. A spokesperson for Baltimore City Comptroller Bill Henry told Spotlight on Maryland in December the comptroller’s office is “actively cultivating a stronger relationship” with BCYF to “understand their strategies and be a resource for fiscal prudence.”
BCYF has declined to say whether it would be open to a performance audit conducted by the city.
Former Baltimore Mayor Jack Young, the architect of BCYF, previously told Spotlight on Maryland he plans to lobby for stricter oversight of the fund. Young stressed BCYF should not be paying for adults to travel despite fund leadership defending the spending.
“This [is] not what I envisioned when I created the Baltimore City Youth Fund,” Young wrote. “I envisioned money going to small community-based organizations that are doing the work with our youth, not extravagant trips for we community leaders.”
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