WildAid, EIA and the Ruckus

Two other generous contributors to Peter Knight and the Environmental Investigation Agency are the Body Shop Foundation and the Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation (now called Ruffod).  Both of these foundations are instrumental in the infrastructure of the green web.

Sir John Maurice Laing was a senior executive of British construction company. He was the first president of the Confederation of British Industry in 1965-6.  After his death, his son took over the administration of this foundation. The Body Shop Foundation was founded in 1990 by Anita Roddick, a British businesswoman whose health care product company was valued at 250 million pounds.

The Body Shop gave $40,000 to the Ruckus Society  to "develop a Direct Action Training Center." The Ruckus Society is based in Oakland CA. Notice their logo - a monkey wrench in the gears. They list Earth First!, Greenpeace and the Rainforest Action Network among their supporters and allies so that should tell you a little bit about them.

Check out their manuals - Ruckus Scouting, Eco-Justice Action Ideas, Bird-Dogging, Media Manual and Action Planning.  Some of this information is very informative, especially as far as using the media to further one's political agenda.  It boggles the mind to see what is considered PC these days.

I think that some of our readers will be very interested in this Ruckus news release posted on May 10th in "Support of Arizona"!  It begins, "Arizona’s racist SB 1070 anti-immigration law signed by Governor Jan Brewer April 23, 2010, has of course sparked a wave of protests in Arizona and around the U.S., as other states like Minnesota have already started proposing similar laws . . . . Ruckus sent [one of their trainers] . . . to Phoenix immediately on April 23 after a call out for support by local Phoenix organizers . . . Ruckus continued strategizing with folks about the lead-up to the big May 29th Mass Action against SB1070." Take a look at their partners and supporters in this campaign.

This is an interesting tactic they use. It's called "Bird-dogging." Another name for the tactic is called "hounding." [No offence to actual bird dogs or hounds is intended.] The ruckusters advise their followers and drones to "use to pressure on candidates or elected representatives to take a public stance on an issue, or to question a stance that they have already taken. It usually consists of one or more bird-doggers who go to a public event where a candidate or elected representative, such as a Member of Congress or a U.S. Senator, will appear. The bird-doggers ask pointed questions about issues they care about in order to elicit a response and educate the media and voters. Because members of the media often attend these events, bird-dogging plays an important role in getting candidates’ positions “on record.” We all know that politicians don’t always keep their promises once they’re elected, so this is a vital part of holding them accountable to their constituents."

That doesn't speak well for the politicians we have voted for, does it? Our tax dollars pay their salaries and we better send that message Loud and Clear!  But sometimes I wonder just how much louder and clearer we have to get before we are heard.  

Follow That Web

Spidey's friend BZB sent some information that needing some looking into. I decided to take a quick spin through a section of the green web that began with one Peter Knights. Knights was formerly the program director and undercover investigator for the Global Survival Network [EIN52-1934148] - which later morphed into WildAid [20-3644441] ] and he was the senior investigator for the Environmental Investigation Agency [52-1654284]. Actress Bo Derek also sits on the EIA BOD. In the mid-1990s Knights created the Active Conservation Awareness Program (ACAP) which is part of WildAid. Does this guy wear a lot of hats or what?

Knights is also the executive director of the Wildlife Alliance [EIN 20-3644441], making a 6 figure salary with this organization for his non-profit work. Its Washington DC office is just 5 blocks east and one block south of the HSUS office. The Alliance is a member of the IUCN - International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the International Ecotourism Society and various other conservation and sustainable development organizations. They have worked closely with Fauna and Flora International, Conservation International and the Traffic conservation program.

OK. Let me get this straight. The Wildlife Alliance [EIN 52-1934148] was originally founded in 1994 by a group of American and British conservationists under the name Global Survival Network [EIN52-1934148], and later reorganized in 1999 as WildAid. The organization restructured itself again in 2006, dividing the organization's programs between two organizations - a new separate WildAid conducting the Active Conservation Awareness Program, Shark Conservation, and Galapagos Islands programs and the Wildlife Alliance conducting field operations in Southeast Asia and Russia. Even Spidey finds it hard to keep up with all the threads in this web.

WildAid's supporters are divided into foundations, corporate partners and government and non-profit partners. The following is a very short list that includes the Barbara Delano Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, David Shepherd Conservation Foundation (England) the US FWS, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Homeland Foundation, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Tiger Foundation, and the Wendy P. McCaw Foundation, but be sure to check out the website. KaChing!

Next we'll look at The Barbara Delano Foundation. Delano was the granddaughter of Dr. William E. Upjohn, founder of the well known pharmaceutical company. This foundation has also made generous donations to the Environmental Investigation Agency and guess who just happens to be their Program Director - why it is none other than Peter Knights!

Suwanna Gauntlett is the daughter of Barbara Delano, and is also a director of the Wildlife Alliance. Both she and Charles C. Goodfellow are directors of the Alliance and both sit on the board of the Barbara Delano Foundation. So is it any surprise that over the past decade, the Barbara Delano Foundation has given millions of dollars to the Wildlife Alliance and to WildAid?

PS They also gave millions to the Humane Farming Association.   Thousand$ upon thousand$ more dollars have been donated to the Environmental Investigation Agency (of course), Active Conservation Awareness (ACAP) (yep),  Flora and Fauna International, the Environmental Justice Resource Network, David Shepherd Conservation, African Wildlife Foundation, Global Witness, the World Parrot Trust, Phoenix Fund, the Sea Turtle Restoration Project, the Cheeta Conservation Fund and other similar non-profits.

Some of the Delano Foundation's stock holdings include shares in 3M Co, Abott Laboratories, Accenture LTD, Aflac Inc, Air Products & Chemicals Inc, Akamai Technologies Inc, Allstate Corp, American Express Company, Apple Inc, AT & T Inc, Avon Products Inc, Cardinal Health, Inc, Carnival Corp, Caterpillar Inc, Cisco Systems Inc, Citigroup Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Company, Comcast Corp, Conocophillips, Corning Inc, Costco Whsl Corp, CVS Caremark Corporation, Digital Realty Trust Inc, DU Pont De Nemours, Duke Energy, Eaton Corp, Electronic Arts, Emerson Electric Co, Exelon Corp, Fairpoint Communications, Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold Inc, General Electric Company, Goldman Sachs Group Inc , Home Depot Inc, Honeywell Intl Inc, Intel Corp, International Business Machines, Johnson & Johnson, JP Morgan Chase & Co, Kohls Corp, Medtronic Inc, Merck & Co Inc, Microsoft Corporation, Morgan Stanley, Nabors Industries, National Semiconductor Corp, Nokia Corp, Oracle Corp, Pepsico Inc, Pfizer Inc, Philip Morris International Inc, Plum Creek Timber Co Inc., Qualcomrn Inc, Schering Plough Corp, Schlumberger LTD, Spectra Energy Corp, Staples Inc, State Street Corp, Target Corp, Teva Pharmaceutical Inds LTD, Textron Inc, The Procter & Gamble Company, The Travelers Companies Inc , The Walt Disney Company, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Time Warner Inc., United Technologies Corp, Urban Outfitters Inc, US Bancorp, Vanguard Intl Equity, Verizon Communications Inc, Wachovia Corp, Wal Mart Stores Inc, Wellpoint Inc., and Williams Cos Inc.

She owns the Gauntlett Group LLC in San Francisco that is listed under Environmental and Eco Services and which is involved with commercial and residential construction. According to the website, "The firm assisted multi-national corporations with policy decisions, strategic planning and management programs that reduce pollution and excessive consumption of natural resource in all areas of operations. Clients included Pfizer, Ciba-Geigy, Fujitsu, Xerox, Boeing, Alcoa, LVMH, and Nike."  Seems she is making money left and right.

A quick internet search revealed that WildAid does not meet the following seven BBB Standards for Charity Accountability:

Standard 1 : Oversight of Operations and Staff - Organizations shall have a board of directors that provides adequate oversight of the charity's operations and its staff. Indication of adequate oversight includes, but is not limited to, regularly scheduled appraisals of the CEO's performance, evidence of disbursement controls such as board approval of the budget, fund raising practices, establishment of a conflict of interest policy, and establishment of accounting procedures sufficient to safeguard charity finances.

          WildAid does not meet this Standard because it does not have a board-approved conflict of interest policy.

Standard 3 : Frequency and Attendance of Board Meetings - An organization shall have a minimum of three evenly spaced meetings per year of the full governing body with a majority in attendance, with face-to-face participation. A conference call of the full board can substitute for one of the three meetings of the governing body. For all meetings, alternative modes of participation are acceptable for those with physical disabilities.

          WildAid does not meet the meeting frequency provision of this standard for meetings held in the past fiscal year. The organization reports having one meeting of it board of directors in 2005.

Standard 4 : Compensated Board Members - Not more than one or 10% (whichever is greater) directly or indirectly compensated person(s) serving as voting member(s) of the board. Compensated members shall not serve as the board's chair or treasurer.

          WildAid does not meet this Standard because two (2) members of the seven (7) member board of directors (or 29%) are paid staff.

Standard 6 : Board Policy on Effectiveness - Have a board policy of assessing, no less than every two years, the organization's performance and effectiveness and of determining future actions required to achieve its mission.

          WildAid does not meet this Standard because the board of directors does not have a written policy stating that, at least every two years, an appraisal be done assessing the organization's performance and effectiveness and determining future actions required to achieve its mission.

Standard 7 : Board Approval of Written Report on Effectiveness - Submit to the organization's governing body, for its approval, a written report that outlines the results of the aforementioned performance and effectiveness assessment and recommendations for future actions.

           WildAid does not meet this Standard because the board of directors did not receive a written report outlining the organization's previous effectiveness assessment.

Standard 16 : Annual Report - Have an annual report available to all, on request, that includes: (a) the organization's mission statement, (b) a summary of the past year's program service accomplishments, (c) a roster of the officers and members of the board of directors, (d) financial information that includes (i) total income in the past fiscal year, (ii) expenses in the same program, fund raising and administrative categories as in the financial statements, and (iii) ending net assets.

          WildAid does not meet this Standard because the organization states it did not produce an annual report covering activities conducted in 2004.

Standard 17 : Web Site Disclosures - Include on any charity websites that solicit contributions, the same information that is recommended for annual reports, as well as the mailing address of the charity and electronic access to its most recent IRS Form 990.

          WildAid does not meet this Standard because its website, www.wildaid.org, does not include all of the recommended information for those charity websites that solicit for donations. Specifically, it does not include the most recent financial information. The website also does not provide electronic access to the organization's most recent IRS Form 990.

Whew!

Interestingly, the International Wildlife Management Coalition (IWMC) president, Eugene Lapointe, wrote an article about Peter Knights and WildAid entitled Extremists Make Poor Champions of Sharks or of The World.

Then again, be sure to check out this interesting article entitled The International World Exploiters which denounces the IWMC! Lapointe is also the president of the World Conservation Trust Foundation  [EIN 74-3125270] . There are no 990s for the Foundation and they report their balance as zero. Yet, the website states they are in relationship with the World Conservation Trust (aka IWMC) but how is that organization being funded???

We are told on the website that the IWMC is a registered charity in Canada but Spidey has yet to find it in the Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency unless it has yet another name. There was an International Wildlife Coalition Foundation, but it's charity status has been revoked.

It will take more time to untangle this vast and confusing web, so until next time . . . keep sending your tips, leads and ideas and I will keep roaming the web in search of more information and answers!