GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The founder and former CEO of the Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative (ELNC) is speaking out after she was sued by the nonprofit she started, accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Dr. Nkechy Ekere Ezeh started the ELNC around 2011. The nonprofit focused their work on assisting with the challenges of early-childhood education deficits in “vulnerable” neighborhoods.
She was recently sued by the remaining board members of the ELNC, accused of embezzling at least $656,350 and allegedly distributing the money to herself, friends and family.
The organization’s former director of finance, Sharon Killebrew, was also named in the lawsuit.
Since it was filed, the group says they have discovered “hundreds of thousands of additional dollars that are missing” from their accounts.
On Wednesday, the attorney representing the ELNC in the lawsuit, Brian Lennon, told FOX 17 that they had information to believe that Dr. Ezeh had traveled to Nigeria.
“According to a social media post, our founder and former CEO, Nkechy Ezeh, has left the United States and is now in Nigeria for 'an errand,'" Lennon told FOX 17.
But, on Friday, Dr. Ezeh issued her first statement to FOX 17 since the allegations against her were made public.
“The allegations made in the complaint filed against Dr. Nkechy Ezeh are false. Also false are claims that she fled to Africa. She is in Western Michigan and to portray her in this false light as having fled to Africa is troubling,” a statement on her behalf said.
The statement from Drew, Cooper & Anding, P.C. said that Dr. Ezeh plans to fight the allegations against her in court.
“The complaint not only contains critical omissions and misrepresentations designed to paint Dr. Ezeh in a negative light but is also an attempt to hide her wrongful termination earlier this year, a larger effort by the Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative to discredit her so they could take without compensation her intellectual property that helps educate vulnerable children,” the statement continued.
Brian Lennon told FOX 17 Friday afternoon, “We stand by our investigation and legal complaint. We welcome the opportunity to present our evidence in court.”
The statement on behalf of Dr. Ezeh goes on to state that the lawsuit is an attempt to take intellectual property rights from her.
“Embedded within ELNC’s business model and serving as the framework for all ELNC’s services is the Empowering Parents Impacting Children Model (the “EPIC Model”), intellectual property developed and owned by Dr. Ezeh. The EPIC Model is a two-generational approach that provides family support through a Family Coach and by developing a Family-Centered Social Capital building plan,” it reads.
A page on the ELNC's website from March 2022 describes how the EPIC Model was developed.
"PONA Consulting L3C partnered with us to develop the Empowering Parents Impacting Children (EPIC) Model. The core strategy of the model is to provide support, through the services of a Family Coach, to families as they identify and address barriers preventing them from meeting their basic needs and developing a Family Centered Social Capital building plan," the page read in part.
Dr. Ezeh is alleged to have formed PONA Consulting around the same time she started the ELNC, naming herself as the registered agent in its articles of incorporation filed with the state of Michigan. The lawsuit also claims she formed a group called the Early Years Coalition in April 2022.
Dr. Ezeh’s alleged fraudulent activity is outlined in the complaint filed like this: the ELNC would be awarded grant money from “various foundations, state and federal governments, individuals, and businesses.”
The ELNC would then allegedly distribute that money to a number of partner organizations, including the Early Years Coalition. The Early Years Coalition would then allegedly pay “significant amounts of that money” to PONA Consulting via “fraudulent invoices,” seemingly diverting money directly to Dr. Ezeh.
The statement issued Friday also makes claims that Dr. Ezeh was wrongfully fired from her post earlier in the year.
The statement says that her termination and the subsequent lawsuit against her is in retaliation for a number of things.
The statement claims, “[The ELNC’s] subsequent complaint follows her severance demands, including her demand that ELNC enter into a licensing agreement with her permitting its continued use of her intellectual property, consistent with the terms of her employment contract. Its lawsuit is nothing more than an attempt to diminish the price of that license, her work, credibility, and the value of her claims for wrongful termination.”
Part of the work the ELNC did was to operate schools in West Michigan, including Steepletown Neighborhood Services in Grand Rapids.
Following the ELNC making the difficult decision to shut their doors on Wednesday afternoon, by Friday morning the Kent Intermediate School Districtand nonprofit First Steps Kent announced they would be stepping in to take over the operations of any of their remaining locations.
This was positive news for the folks set to represent the ELNC in their lawsuit to recover the allegedly embezzled funds.
“We are uplifted by the outreach of community organizations like KISD, First Steps Kent and Women’s Resource Center, which have stepped up to offer support for ELNC programming and our staff,” Lennon told FOX 17.
The law firm representing Dr. Ezeh says they will file a response to the lawsuit against her “in due course.”
READ MORE: Kent ISD taking over; looking for organizations to help kids impacted by ELNC closure
