New Hanover Community Endowment responds to call for potential resignation of Board Chair
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Some community leaders in New Hanover County are calling for New Hanover Community Endowment Board Chair Bill Cameron to reform the Endowment.
A letter signed by National Black Leadership Caucus Regional Chair Sonya Bennetone-Patrick, community activist Derrick Anderson, and former Wilmington mayor Harper Peterson (who created a non-profit about the issue) wants “Cameron to either step up and make necessary changes or step down from his position.”
The letter claims Cameron’s tenure has suffered from politicization of the Endowment board, a lack of transparency and public engagement, and a wrong choice for CEO.
On the first point, the letter points to the removal of Dr. Virginia Adams and the abrupt departure of CEO William Buster.
The letter also claims the majority of Endowment board members should be by community appointment, and criticizes the selection of CEO Dan Winslow back in August, claiming he has “no substantial philanthropic or charitable experience and a history of working with libertarian think tanks and corporate interests, [which] highlights a stark disconnect from the endowment’s foundational goals.”
The letter is urging “Attorney General Josh Stein to appoint an ‘Independent Monitor’ to investigate the Endowment to ensure the Board’s priorities and actions align with the public interest.”
When asked for comment, the Endowment responded with the following statement:
Under Bill’s leadership, the New Hanover Community Endowment has invested almost $75 million dollars in the community addressing difficult issues from literacy and job creation to housing and public safety. The work of the endowment is focused on improving the life of every resident in New Hanover County. Unfortunately, many of the demands in Heal Our People’s Endowment’s statement are misleading and are outside the scope of our authority or demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding of the operation of the endowment.
The Endowment was created following the sale of New Hanover Regional Medical Center to Novant Health.
