A change in leadership is coming to Yellowstone Forever, which has attracted attention recently for staff reductions and deep discounts on some of its summer field programs in Yellowstone National Park.
Heather White, who has been CEO and president of the nonprofit organization since 2016 when the old Yellowstone Foundation and Yellowstone Association merged, will step down at week's end. Succeeding her on an interim basis will be John Walda, treasurer of the board of directors of Yellowstone Forever. The moves were announced Monday by Kay Yeager, the chairman of the board.
Walda retired last year from the National Association of College and University Business Officers where he was president and CEO. White will work with Walda on a transition.
Just last week Yellowstone Forever began offering large discounts on its summer programs just weeks after reportedly laying off some staff. The discounts -- 30-40 percent off all Yellowstone Forever Institute field seminars -- were announced last Thursday, less than three weeks before the first classes are to begin. The sale on courses comes in the wake of layoffs that claimed six employees last month, according to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. The newspaper cited unnamed employees who said the layoffs were related to internal problems with the organiziation.
“We are grateful for Heather’s leadership and her commitment to Yellowstone Forever and Yellowstone National Park,” said Yeager. “Heather has been a tireless advocate for the organization and the park, has raised tens of millions of dollars for our mission, increased our brand awareness, and has brought energy, enthusiasm, and professionalism to her role.”
White, who was paid nearly $300,000 a year when salary and other compensation were combined, said it was time to look for new challenges.
“I’ve worked for almost three years to help accomplish the merger of the two predecessor organizations of Yellowstone Forever—Yellowstone Association and Yellowstone Park Foundation—into a single foundation. I am proud that Yellowstone Forever is now reaching more people than ever before with our educational mission and digital reach," she said. "Since 2016, we have provided millions in cash grants to the park and in-kind aid. It’s now time for me to explore new adventures, and for a new leader of Yellowstone Forever.”
Walda will spend time in both the Bozeman and Gardiner, Montana, offices of Yellowstone Forever.
Comments
Okay, I admit it; I'm having a hard time watching this mess ooze and dribble on. Let me say it again. Tossing the old CEO into the weeds is certainly necessary, but not sufficient. Why? Because practically everyone in the organization knew the CEO, and the old CFO for that matter, were board chair toadies who never acted without the approval of the board chair. So, as I have said before, you can make the CEO into a sacrificial bone that you toss into the weeds to distract attention; but, none of this organization's deep problems are actually going to be corrected until you get rid of that board chair and restructure that tainted board. They are the ones who have been at the center of this from the start and I am not the only one saying it. Even on this website, another poster very correctly pointed out that this board has "stonewalled efforts to introduce good governance" and "eschewed transparency" at every turn. Eschewing transparency is another way of saying they're secretive and pathologically averse to disclosure, which is why retaliating against whisleblowers and witnesses so quickly became such an integral part of their management style. The board chair now thinks dismissing that handpicked CEO will fool everyone into thinking the problems are being addressed and serve to discourage further disclosure. Get it? Again, the problems in that organization will not even begin to be addressed until the board has been replaced. Again, neither the currently being ousted CEO nor the previously ousted CFO ever did anything substantive without the board chair's at least tacit approval. The board chair knew about the financial mess; the board chair knew about the smiling hatchet crew that the now ousted CEO brought in to stop disclosure of it by politely retaliating against employees that might blow the whistle; and the board chair knew about the sweetheart deal for the fancy, but ultimately worthless, "outside development consultant" and his fancy furniture, which, again, needs to be returned for a refund or sold as used so whatever money is left can go to the park where it should have gone to begin with. Again, this is also not just a story of one bad park nonprofit. There is evidence that it stretches into park management, fits the agenda of concessionaires, and matches problems now rampant in other parts of the DOI. Again, let us all remember that this is an organization that, based on its relationship with the NPS, was given the privilege of operating in federally owned facilities, on federal property, in a prestigious national park, and had annual access to millions of dollars in well-intentioned public donations as a result.
How has this YF skulduggery affected former Superintendent and YF Founder Bob Barbee's Scholarship Fund ? (established as Barbee's Memorial ?)
https://www.craigdailypress.com/obituaries/2016-10-07-bob-barbee/
"If you would like to honor Bob a fund has been set up with Yellowstone Forever (formerly Yellowstone Park Foundation). At the request of the family the Yellowstone Forever organization is in the process of establishing a special project or scholarship fund in Bob's name. Contributions can be mailed to: Yellowstone Forever, Barbee Memorial Project Fund, 222 E. Main Street, Bozeman, MT 59715. Yellowstone Forever is the primary partner organization of Yellowstone National Park and a 501 c 3 non-profit organization."
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94126845
shameful to think that HW just gets to walk away...
my understanfing is that there is NO money left anywhere and a $10 million $ plus debt to pay.
dumpster fire...
What about the CFO? The CFO has to be culpable too! Has anyone looked into his complicancy?
I hate to sound like a broken record; but, it's not and never was just the CEO. To actually fix this problem, and it needs to get fixed, you must get rid of 1) the equally culpable board chair who enabled and guided the CEO and the rest of the complicit and tainted board, 2) that fancy "outside development consultant" and let him take his damned furniture with him, and 3) the smiling hatchet man that the now ousted CEO brought in to intimidate employees into silence, retaliate against whisleblowers and witnesses, and drive out any employee with enough brains to recognize what was happening and enough integrity to speak out about it. You also need to take the current park superintendent to task for his reported discriminatory comments about longtime and older employees not being able to adapt to modern crowded conditions in the park, comments that just by chance happened to be consistent with the smiling hatchet man's dirty deeds. The only way to deal with a dumpster fire is to put it out ...completely out ...every last smoking ember.
So the pages of this site were filled with words of honoring and praising former Supt Wenk and his unfair treatement from politicals and yet he goes unscathed. Thre is an attack on Supt Sholly who inherited a little bit more of a mess than our hero Mr. Wenk would lead us to believe. It sounds like the people involved need one big therapy session. It is sad that this has happened to one of the larger non-profit groups that supports the NPS. But hey, at least all of the new ethics councelors hired by the NPS will keep all NPS staff from eating a dinner that might be sponsored by one of these groups - God forbid!
I would impolre you to do your research next time you write an article like this. The discounts that this article consistently brings up has NOTHING to do with the recent issues at the organization - absolutley nothing. It was a way to offer a two-week special discount to try and get more people in classes (not for money). Get your story straight.
Dear anonymous, we did place a phone call to Yellowstone Forever for Megan Boyle to discuss the layoffs and the discounted classes. She never got back to us. Are you with Yellowstone Forever? Could you identify yourself and discuss the situation?