Update: MS Society Issues an “Apology” to Fran Itkoff on 2/21/24 & Absolves itself of a Need to Do Anything Different
On 2/21/24, a day after my original Substack article was published, MS Society attempts to actually do some PR work, and makes it all even worse.
Since about February 8th of 2024 (about two weeks ago), the National MS Society has been embroiled in nothing less than a public relations nightmare - entirely of it’s own making. This started when Chaya Raichik, who runs the extremely well-known (and reviled amongst certain political circles) Twitter / X account known as “Libs of TikTok.” broke the story.
If you want to get up to speed, you can read my article on this from a few days ago:
90 year old Fran of Lakewood, California couldn’t be a more blameless and sympathetic figure. Not only was she a 60-year veteran volunteer of the MS Society with an unblemished record of service to the family caregivers and MS patients whom the MS Society nominally serves, she had received awards for her service.
Keep in mind - Fran was fired, via email, no less at 4:57pm on a Friday by middle management functionary Kali Kumor (euphemistically called the MS Society’s “Community Engagement Manager”), apparently for what appears to be nothing less than thoughtcrime - for the infraction of expressing confusion over the now-widespread practice of signing emails with “pronouns.”
Yes. That’s correct.
Damage Control
Since the story broke, here is what happened: there was a deafening, entirely negative public response. Why wouldn’t there be? Fran Itkoff, a dedicated, selfless older adult volunteer was fired in no less than abjectly cowardly fashion, and her 60-year stellar volunteer career was flushed down the toilet, apparently with no afterthought.
Now, MS Society was being called on their behavior. Very, very harshly.
So, of course - the MS Society did what any smart volunteer organization would do!
They doubled down with a 2/15/24 press release, stating “We believe that our staff acted with the best of intentions and did their best to navigate a challenging issue” and they will “reach out” to Fran, to have, with her, a “conversation about assuring that our diversity, equity and inclusion policies evolve in service of our mission” (lucky her).
So, in other words, the response was: “well, because we are noble people we have nothing to apologize for.”
2/21/24 - Tripling Down with a Statement Wearing the Clothes of an Apology.
On 2/21/24, they made their second attempt. I’ve included a screenshot of the statement, above, with the relevant passages highlighted. A few things to point out:
First, in the statement, above, the MS Society says they “apologized” to Fran.
Note what they apologized for.
Not for firing her for being terminally confused about the absurdity of the “pronoun email signature ritual,” (and daring to voice her confusion). No, they apologized for not “having had more conversations with her” for doing so.
They apologized for not having “protocols” in place.
Yes - protocols for firing 90-year-old Fran, who’s crime was apparently not understanding the bizarre, brand-new practice of adding “gender pronouns” to email signatures. Fran isn’t the only one who is confused by the practice, and find it bizarre or nonsensical.
That’s fine - cultural customs can be like that. But firing her for this?
Finally - and this is the most telling to me - they triple down on their “intentions” - as if somehow their claimed intentions are even relevant.
Again, to remind - They fired a 60 year, decorated veteran volunteer, 90-year old woman, widow, and former MS caregiver on a Friday, at 5:57pm, via email, and they couldn’t even say the words “you’re fired.” This is an organization that is fundamentally sick, and broken.
DEI Insanity Includes Pronoun Insanity (the MS Society is Clearly Terminally Sick)
What’s monstrous is that 90-year old Fran voicing her confusion over this practice still even exists in the same universe as a fireable offense to the National MS Society leadership - as opposed to simply a disagreement of cultural custom.
Certain people of a progressive stripe are convinced it’s polite or “all-inclusive” (as if making the world into a Club Med resort is our moral duty) to point out what’s overwhelmingly obvious in the overwhelming majority of cases (one’s biological sex, and/or “gender”) in email signatures.
Others think this is a pointless and logically contradictory ritual. In a civilized society (the one Fran clearly exists in), we would just agree to disagree. Apparently the MS Society thinks otherwise.
Final note - Kali Kumor, the “Community Engagement Middle Manager,” who fired Fran in such callous and cowardly fashion (in an email, on a Friday, at 4:58pm, using incredibly weasel-wordy language) is by all accounts, still employed by the MS Society.
The MS Society Leapt Headlong into the Arms of the “Diversity Equity & Inclusion” Commissariat in 2020
It’s been quite a ride them, the National MS Society, the US nonprofit organization that was started by Brooklyn, New York native Sylvia Lawry, who founded the society in 1946, as way to help her brother, Bernard, an MS sufferer.
Since 1946, the MS Society has grown substantially, with gross revenues of over 166 million dollars per year as of fiscal year 2022, according to tax filing data.
However, in 2020, in the wake of the BLM / “Antifa” led riots that swept the United States where major US cities burned for several weeks, the MS Society, apparently seeing the political zeitgeist going in a certain direction, decided they would do what every other establishment-aligned organization needed to do in order to remain in the good graces of our new cultural overlords, they would ‘infuse the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion in everything we do.’
Which of course explains why they now so-easily exclude and toss aside - like refuse, with no real apology, the 60-year career of a woman who has selflessly given everything to their organizations.
How the MS Society Performs as a Nonprofit
According to their 2022 Tax Filing documents, as was mentioned, along with some other publicly available information, we know a few things.
First, there is salary data on only four of what appears to be a minimum of an 18-member “executive leadership team” at the MS Society.
First there’s Cyndi Zagieboylo (seen above, intoning the now-familiar DEI political loyalty oath), the current president of the MS Society. According to their tax filings, she nets a cool half-million dollars per year in salary ($501,300, to be exact).
For the remaining three executives that we have salary data on:
COO: $310,854
Chief Research Officer: $307,794
Chief Marketing & Development Officer: $305,039
On their Senior Leadership Team main page, however, there are nine more executives (Executive Vice Presidents) where salary data is unavailable. Let’s just assume, conservatively, that those remaining Senior Leadership salary packages are, say, $250,000 apiece. That means that the MS Society is handing out nearly four million per year (conservatively) in executive compensation (2.5% of their total operating revenues).
What, exactly, are these executives doing?
Well, here is an estimated line-item breakdown by percentage of each donated dollar that the National MS Society receives:
Executive Compensation & Benefits: 2.4%
This covers the 4 key executives listed in their Form 990, 2022 Tax Filing.Overall Employee Compensation & Benefits: 37.4%
This includes the executive compensation & benefits.Fundraising Expenses: 18.1%
Includes professional fundraising fees (paying more consultants, typically).Research Funding: 19-34%
Estimated range - over $30 million spent per year.1Direct Services for Patients & Caregivers: 29.1%
Includes grants, education programs, etc.
That’s right - when all is said and done, if you donate a dollar to the National MS Society, you are overwhelmingly funding their very well-compensated executives, hordes of Kali Kumor middle managers, consultants, you are also increasingly politically-fashionable “health disparities research” (NOT money going for a cure) and only 29 cents out of that dollar goes to actually helping patients and caregivers directly.
Given how the MS Society appears to be “helping” people like Fran Itkoff, I’d say there’s likely far better ways to be spending your dollars.
What GeroDoc Would Like to See from the MS Society for me to Change My Tune
Worth noting - I am very biased, right now, in favor of just seeing the MS Society burn. Call it “creative destruction.” However, I would be willing to change my tune if a few things happened:
Kali Kumor, their “Community Engagement Manager” needs to be fired, yesterday. They can dress it up if they like, they can “make the difficult decision of having her step down” or what have you - but she needs to be canned. She treated a decorated volunteer, Fran Itkoff - a person whom the MS Society should be treasuring, revering, and teaching THEM how to help MS patients and caregivers, like garbage. This is unacceptable.
The MS Society needs to re-issue their apology, and make it a real one. Explain publicly why what they did was wrong. Start by explaining that firing someone as clearly stellar and worthy of respect and reverence as Fran - by email, on a Friday, at 4:58pm - is simply disgusting behavior.
The MS Society needs to, in their apology, plainly acknowledge that firing a selfless old lady with a stellar 60 year career over absurd pronoun email rituals is, quite simply, utterly exclusionary and illiberal. They need to own this, acknowledge this, and state publicly that they will be engaging in serious self-reflection about this, that their pursuit of “DEI” in fact is resulting in a less diverse, exclusionary, illiberal workplace.
I doubt any of this will happen.
I forgot to mention - if you look closely at the final 2/21/24 statement of the MS Society, above, they say they “apologized to Fran directly and reached out to her to find a way to continue to work together.”
Just looking at Fran, and watching her interview with Chaya - I have a suspicion that Fran told them exactly where to stick this idea of hers - and for good reason.
This includes all of the politically fashionable “health disparities research” they are now doing, instead of actually trying to fund research on a cure for MS.
Well as usuaL GERODOC has nailed it. MS Society. NEVER AGAIN.
Throught crime, any comment, a simple question, the worng tone of voice, even looking "weirdly" at a person might be offensive and result in a act of violence against this person, physical violence if possible or social exclusion, losing the job, being vilified on social media, etc.... nearly a half-million dollars per year this non profit MS org. president!, follow the money, I doubt this comes from only the individual contributors.