By now most know the āfaultsā of the Wounded Warrior Project ā a nonprofit organization that has led the way in helping wounded warriors restore some dignity and get a new start in the civilian sector.
What many donāt know is a bit of history behind the co-founder and former CEO Steve Nardizzi. Steve is a lawyer by education and over the years helped grow United Spinal Association, Soldier Ride and then moved on to help found the Wounded Warrior Project in 2003.
Steve also helped draft the original text for the Traumatic Injury Servicemenās Group Life Insurance Benefit Bill, which has processed over $200 million in benefits.
Under Steveās leadership, the Wounded Warrior Projectās program budgets went from $12M to $283M over 6 years while increasing organizational reach to over 75K warriors across the globe. He also led the organization through the recession of 2008 by driving an aggressive growth strategy that resulted in revenue acceleration from $21M to $375M through 2015 and led to a consistent ranking as a Top 400 charity.
And then Steve got fired.
Last week, Wounded Warrior Project board fired CEO Steve Nardizzi and COO Al GiordanoĀ after a CBS News investigation raised questions about the charity spent its money compared to other long-respected charities.
Anthony Odierno, board chairman of the Wounded Warrior Project, told CBS THIS MORNING last week that after allegations were raised about the spending practices of the charity he knew some of the leadership ādidnāt properly represent the organization.ā
Few will dispute Steveās accomplishments. Unfortunately, what often happens when leaders begin to succeed, they often lose sight of the real mission. Perhaps had Steve served in uniform he would have realized that a grounded leader maintains mission above self.
Let this be a reminder to all who serve in positions of leadership.
Odierno, who is a decorated Veteran, said heās put together a committee to find a new CEO. āWeāre going to consider any and all candidates that we think will be the best fit for this organization. And weāll keep moving this organization forward serving the needs for years to come,ā Odierno said in an interview broadcast on March 14, 2016 on CBS THIS MORNING on the CBS Television Network.
Bottom Line: Whether we serve in the public sector or private sector, or even in our homes, we can all practice being servant leaders as well as being good stewards with what weāve been entrusted.
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Mr. Farrell – your points are duly noted. The work in a non-profit certainly isn’t for the faint of heart. Fortunately, WWP had ample staff and was making headway. A bit more oversight and one who leads with ensuring the majority of funds are going toward serving the wounded will certainly put WWP back on top.
Anyone who’s had a leadership position in a nonprofit has been exposed to similar problems. First of all, it’s hard to believe that someone who works for a “non-profit” supposedly doing some part of the Lord’s work would steal, embezzle or misuse money. Of course, a lot of opportunists are attracted to the work simply because of the somewhat weak internal controls. Next, nonprofits tend to under-staff, and then make up for it by being very flexible with time…which means who the hell knows when anybody is going to be around. And, because they under-staff, handing off the duty of doing internal performance audits to someone means the work that they are supposed to be doing doesn’t get done, and so the idea of a performance audit doesn’t cross anyone’s mind. Finally, and this is particularly true with charities, there is a tendency to hire less qualified folks and “train them” which means some sort of OJT plus maybe a class or two, if anything at all. Best practices call for not doing any of this horrible stuff, but there is a conflict of values here. For my sins, I found myself as the interim Executive Director/CEO of a faith-based nonprofit serving the poor. I found myself having to struggle to keep the doors open and the clients served and the volunteers listened to and the payroll met and the board happy. I focused my work on staying solvent, operational and taking care of the people we were supposed to take care of. Over time, I discovered a lot of horrors; under previous ED, the ruling clique was run by ingrate, inbred, liars and thieves. Realized that to fix anything, I was going to be politically unpopular and probably have a short shelf life. Well, I’d been looking for a job when I got that one so…Wounded Warrior has been successful and will have to work hard to regain the donors trust. I wish them success.
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