The Justin M. Dart Foundation Saga continues....and ends.
So my story at the JMD Foundation is slowly coming to a close but hopefully unlike J.K. Rowlings' ending there will be no climatic deaths except the slow cruciating process of ruining many Thai kids educational dreams...
The beginning:
Unfortunately, I was not around during the creation of the foundation, when Justin came to Chiang Mai I was still working with Peace Corps. I would say the beginning started idealistically...Justin with his money, will, hard work and dreams began at full speed. He met a woman named Nit that became his right hand woman. He entrusted her with everything, and during the first year they worked at such a pace, investing time and energy, so that the foundation had been registered, constructed, programs had open and the two staff, became 6 and then became over 20.
Certain days, 500 kids would pass through the foundation, rooms were full, computers were all occupied, teachers and staff had their hands full. There were more than 20 different programs and the foundation was an educational center unlike anything else seen in Chiang Mai and most likely all of Thailand.
The Middle:
Justin wanted to not work so hard (he literally was working 7 days a week and tons of hours) and he also wanted his foundation to be able to operate on its own. Unfortunately, after he was not there all the time things started to fall apart. The foundation had grown to fast for its own good and keeping tabs on everything was a daunting job. Justin also heard rumors of corruption as well and wanted Nit to investigate.
Shit hits the fan:
I came up to Chiang Mai around the middle part to run a soccer league and basically be with my best friends, Justin and Ben. Justin went home for Christmas and when he came back there were rumors of corruption, people were talking about gangs forming and trying to kick Justin out of the country. There was also death threats on Justin's life, how real they were, we are not sure but they came from different sources. Justin decided to leave Chiang Mai for awhile and shut down all of the programs except one. During this point Justin was not sure if he could still trust Nit. Tempers cooled, rumors stopped circulating, Justin came back to Chiang Mai and Nit and Ae were resigning as managers....slowly the can of worms began to open. Since, early on Nit was named as the director of the company that owned Justin's house and the foundation because foreigners can own property under Thai law. When Nit resigned she said she would give everything back to Justin and sign the proper forms but when the time came she had one excuse after another. It turns out she was delaying and trying to hope that nobody would notice that she illegally transferred 99% of the shares of the company to her husband. Whether or not she had been planning this move since day 1 or whether or not something had turned her tides against Justin I am not sure...but her calculative malice was unbelievable, especially, to Justin who loved her, brought his parents to meet her, sent her and her family on vacation, etc. The more and more we dove in the more and more clear it became that the corruption was all linked to Nit and that she probably stole over 15,000 dollars little by little over the two years. 15,000 dollars that was going to go to Thai children and the foundation's programs.
The smoke clears:
So it is during this time when Justin realized that he could not trust Nit that I became the manager of the foundation. Whether it was over optimism or what, I thought that I could help change the situation. While Justin was fighting Nit in court I was busy rearranging the systems at the foundation, trying to make sure everything was thorough...new policies, new accounting systems, new forms etc. I also, had opened a few programs, a soccer league, English, computers, video production...It is during this time that Nit actually settled with Justin out of court. Justin had to pay her a little extra money (to that thieving woman) but she signed over all her shares of the company and her position has the director of the company. I thought that this would be a stroke of good luck and that I would be able to open more programs and slowly get the foundation back and even better than it was before. I was excited, the programs were going good and the foundation was back in Justin's name!
Unfortunately, during the whole ordeal the board that helped fund the foundation began giving pressure to Justin to get out of Thailand as soon as possible. As Foreigners living in Thailand to not like fermented fish, boards tend to not like corruption and litigation. So with that pressure and the lack of support and the anger Justin felt towards his Thai staff, there was a decision made to close down the foundation.
The End:
Despite, all my efforts to show that the foundation was running smoothly, to convince Justin on how much Chiang Mai needed this, to gather support from outside organizations, it was to no avail. So instead, of this brilliant next year, I am not running amazing programs. But instead, I am closing off loose ends, selling equipment, and trying to make peace with it.
Overall, this experience has been easier and harder because the CEO is my best friend. I have never had to worry about myself knowing that he would take care of me, but at the same time it has been extra hard to see 1) my best friend go through such a hard time 2) not agree with what all he wants to do but still having to do it because I am his friend and he is my CEO 3) watch an opportunity, all the money, all the time Justin invested, go down the drain.
Any foundation, any real project takes time and unfortunately, this one was cut short. Not to be romantically lame but literally this foundation is like a rose with one beautiful flower on it that died, for awhile it looked ugly, real ugly, but then there were many new buds growing out of it but right before they had any chance to bloom, and bloom many more flowers than before the whole thing was cut down.
It is such a loss, a loss for Thai kids in general (since this is not the first foundation this has happened to) a loss for the few good teachers and staff that had developed their skills at the foundation, a loss for Justin and his time and investment, and a loss for me.
Conclusion:
But has my idol said, when one window is closed many more are open. The computers will be sold mostly to schools/foundations that were involved in our programs and classes. So they will continually be used and spread through the community. The staff and the participants involved in the foundation have benefited and will be able to use their skills. The children that the foundation sponsors for private high school and tutoring will continue for the next six years. Justin has learned a great deal and the next he embarks in development or philanthropy he will have more know how, experience and a greater influence and positive effect. I will stay here and help close things off while also helping other foundations in the area and continue to working directly with youth but with more time to also explore my own interest, writing, wood-carving, etc.
well that is a short version of the story, the long novel version will be available for sale at Amazon books next year : )
