The Chief Executive of an LGBTQ advocacy group expensed astonishing luxuries including first class flights, luxury hotels and home renovations.
Sarah Kate Ellis, the President of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), is facing questions by legal experts over her use of charity funds.
The New York Times reviewed expense reports, receipts, tax filings and other financial documents from GLAAD from January 2022 through June 2023 and uncovered a string of luxurious spending by Ellis, 52, which also included $18,000 to remodel her home office with its own chandelier.
When she traveled for work, Ellis frequently flew first-class and stayed at the Waldorf Astoria and other luxury hotels while making use of expensive car services.
On top of this, Ellis reportedly expensed a summer rental on Cape Cod and stayed at the Tivoli Lodge, a seven-bedroom chalet in the Swiss Alps with employees.
Sarah Kate Ellis, the President of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation ( GLAAD ), is facing questions by legal experts over her use of charity funds
Ellis, seen here alongside President Joe Biden, reportedly traveled first class and stayed at luxury hotels on the company dime
She had flown to Zurich in January 2023 for the World Economic Forum, traveling in a chauffeur driven car to the lodge and stayed in a seven-bedroom chalet costing nearly $500,000 for the week.
Astonishingly, she was even able to put a ski day on expenses.
GLAAD, which has an annual budget of around $30 million, paid for Ellis’s trip, which included $15,000 for car services, as well as a day of skiing, according to the Times.
All of that is on top of her generous annual pay package which according to the outlet can stretch into the ‘high six or low seven figures.’
According to expense reports, Ellis sought reimbursement for over 30 first-class flights in the 18 month period the Times investigated.
The organization spent over $13,000 on her first-class airfare, a room at the Waldorf and car services so she could speak at a conference in California.
While car services over two days in Washington cost the group $3,900, including $1,000 for a SUV to pick her up at the airport, take her to the White House and then her hotel – a total distance of just seven miles.
GLAAD also spent over $60,000 on flights and hotels for Ellis and chief operating officer Darra Gordon when they attended an industry festival in Cannes, France.
According to a company policy, GLAAD pushes employees to be ‘cost conscious’, saying hotel costs should not exceed $350 a night.
She had flown to Zurich in January 2023 for the World Economic Forum, traveling in a chauffeur driven car to the lodge, seen here
In 2022, her contract was up for renegotiation, with board members reportedly seeing her as indispensable and feared she might leave for a corporate job.
The board agreed to a base salary of $441,000 with a five percent increase each year through the end of her contract in 2027, according to documents seen by the Times.
This change in contract granted her a $150,000 signing bonus, with payments of up to $300,000 tied to GLAAD’s fund-raising.
There was also an annual bonus of up to 40 percent of her salary agreed, as well as a $225,000 farewell bonus that she will collect in 2027.
Alongside her salary, Ellis’s contract includes a variety of items including airline tickets for her wife and two children to accompany her on trips four times a year.
Among those perks is a $25,000 annual allowance for Ellis to rent a home in Provincetown, the Cape Cod community she has vacationed with her family.
The new contract has put Ellis on track to receive anywhere from about $700,000 to $1.3 million a year.
Before her new contract took effect in October 2022, she billed GLAAD around $15,000 for a three-week stay at a cottage in Provincetown.
She described the rental in her expense report as being housing for a GLAAD board meeting.
She had flown to Zurich in January 2023 for the World Economic Forum while traveling first class on Delta, seen here
Oprah Winfrey and Ellis, are seen here posing backstage during the Vanguard award onstage during the 35th GLAAD Media Awards
But she also separately charged the organization for a hotel room during the board meeting, and the rental home extended for weeks after the meeting.
She then later expensed another $14,000 for a down payment on another Provincetown rental for the next summer.
Her contract also provided her with up to $20,000 to renovate her home office, and she spent $18,000 to overhaul the top floor of her $1.9m Long Island home.
Expenses included everything from paint, ivory pillows, to a sectional sofa and a chandelier.
She also requested that Gordon be allowed to expense $2,500 for her own home office improvement.
Gordon used the money on an abstract artwork from Etsy, a blanket and a ceramic vase, according to reports.
The trip to Switzerland may have violated the organization’s own policies as well as Internal Revenue Service Rules.
Legal experts also told the Times that these perks might be inappropriate for a nonprofit organization with only around 60 employees.
The expenses and large pay packets are more commonplace at a for-profit company, with nonprofits being exempt from federal and state taxes.
Nonprofits must ensure that executives are paid reasonably and align with the mission of the charity.
If Ellis received over $1 million, she would be on similar salaries to nonprofits like Feeding America, the American Red Cross, which are huge compared to GLAAD
A spokesman said that based on advice from lawyers, GLAAD didn’t declare the money spent on the home renovation as her income.
This means she likely did not pay taxes on the spending, which may have violated IRS rules.
If the IRS or state regulators deem executive pay at nonprofits to be excessive, they can face penalties including their tax-exempt status being revoked.
Nonprofits can justify the large sums to attract top talent but the board of directors must ensure compensation is fair and comparable to other organizations.
If Ellis received over $1 million, she would be on similar salaries to nonprofits like Feeding America, the American Red Cross, which are huge compared to GLAAD.
Michael West, a lawyer who advises charities, told the outlet that the pattern of spending represented a ‘potentially abusive use of charitable funds’.
West told the Times that: ‘It appears she may have fallen into the trap of excess.’
Brian Mittendorf, a professor at Ohio State University’s College of Business said the perks were ‘much more like a pay package of a for-profit executive and less like that of a person directing a charity.’
David Samuels, a partner at law firm Perlman & Perlman, said: ‘It’s quite a generous package. Is this a proper and reasonable use of the charity’s asset.’
Samuels added that first-class flights, high-end hotels and car services are considered taboo at nonprofits.
Under Ellis’s leadership the organization has become one of the most prominent LGBTQ groups. She is seen here with presidential hopeful Kamala Harris
He also added that using funds from a charity for summer housing, family travel and remodeling a home was also ‘questionable’.
Last year, GLAAD’s CFO Emily Plauché, warned Liz Jenkins, the chairwoman of the group’s board of directors, about what she said was excessive spending.
According to Plauché, it conflicted with the policies of the organization and was not properly being disclosed to the IRS and the public, the outlet reported.
Due to her allegations, the board hired a law firm to investigate, who found that GLAAD changed their policies by permitting execs to upgrade flights under certain circumstances.
Gordon reportedly resisted Plauché’s attempts to disclose the spending in the groups IRS filings, according to employees.
The disagreement intensified until Plauché complained to others that Gordon had been bullying her to keep Ellis’s spending hidden.
Richard Ferraro, a GLAAD spokesman, said there had been no harassment or bullying and that Gordon ‘encouraged’ Plauché to seek advice from auditors.
After the law firm was brought in to investigate, Plauché left GLAAD and signed a settlement that barred her from speaking publicly about the group.
Ferraro told the Times that Plauché had left due to ‘poor performance’, something which her lawyer denied saying she left by mutual agreement.
Last year, the organization’s longtime auditor, The Harrington Group, resigned and recommended the group get a better grasp on their spending.
Ellis joined GLAAD in 2014 and seemingly turned the organization around, increasing finances and regularly appeared on TV and graced red carpets at awards shows
Ferraro also told the Times that Ellis’s travel arrangements had complied with their own policy.
He also flat out denied that she had traveled luxuriously and defended the organization’s spending on her own home improvements and summer housing.
Ferraro also claimed the Switzerland trip was funded through a donation from the Ariadne Getty Foundation.
He said that the Tivoli Lodge was used as a venue for receptions and other events, and that GLAAD paid for the skiing trip in error before Ellis reimbursed them.
GLAAD employees who spoke with the Times said they were upset when they found out the executive was globe trotting on the company dime.
One employee told the Times they were chastised for ‘taking away money from the charity’ after trying to expense a cup of coffee.
Ferraro said that GLAAD had no record of the coffee expense incident and told the Times that a recent survey among employees found they had a high morale.
GLAAD was founded in 1985 to combat homophobic news coverage of AIDS, before expanding to fight for fair media representation.
In 2013, their finances were in turmoil with assets dwindling as expenses outpaces the amount of money being donated.
Ellis joined in 2014 and seemingly turned the organization around, increasing finances and regularly appeared on TV and graced red carpets at awards shows.
Major donors now include Netflix, Google and Disney, with their revenue in 2022 sitting at a reported $19 million.
Under Ellis’s leadership the organization has become one of the most prominent LGBTQ groups.
Some members of the gay community have criticized GLAAD for obsessing over transgender issues on recent years.
The organization has backed controversial medical treatments for transgender children, despite medical experts in European countries increasingly calling for talk therapy before hormone treatments or surgeries are given.
GLAAD also backed controversial transgender swimmer Lia Thomas’ right to compete against biological women.
In a statement provided to DailyMail.com, Ellis said she takes her role as GLAAD’s financial steward incredibly seriously and will continue to ‘update procedures to keep pace with the organization’s rapid growth’.
She said: ‘Our work has never been more urgent, because the LGBTQ community is under increasing attack.
‘Politicians, extremists and even mainstream media outlets are undermining our efforts for equality and pushing dangerous narratives about our community.
‘We won’t stop fighting for acceptance and working as hard as we can, every day, to stand up for our community.’
GLAAD board chair Liz Jenkins echoed her remarks while offering her full support to Ellis.
‘GLAAD’s mission of accelerating acceptance for the LGBTQ community has never been more important.
‘The Board and I stand firmly behind Sarah Kate Ellis, with respect and appreciation for how she and her team are leading the movement at a time when our community is under attack.
‘We have full confidence that they’re doing so with integrity, and that they share the Board’s commitment to irrefutably strong governance and business practices.’