GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Jake Lancaster said he enjoyed his time at the Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative. He was their data quality assurance manager for the last seven months, and he immediately made friends when he started. He loved working there.
However, after a lawsuit emerged a few days ago, Wednesday became his and 29 other colleagues' last day.
“We got an all-staff meeting. So, it was all of us at the office on a Zoom call with Amy DeLeeuw, who is the head of the board, and lawyer Brian Lennon,” Lancaster said during an interview with FOX 17 on Thursday. “And, they informed us around noon that we would all be laid off at three o’clock. So, we got about three hours notice.”
ELNC recently brought a civil lawsuit against its former founder and CEO Dr. Nkechy Ekere Ezeh, accusing her of allegedly embezzling over $650,000 from the organization over the last few years.
The 50-page lawsuit states in part:
“The investigation revealed, among other things, that Dr. Ezeh had used a web of interrelated organizations to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars to herself, as well as to her family and friends—money that should have been used to support at-risk youth”
ELNC’s former director of finance, Sharon Killebrew, was also named in the lawsuit. It stated:
“Beyond personally enriching herself, Dr. Ezeh also approved exorbitant payments to Killebrew (to Killebrew’s Shared Blessings entity) without ELNC Board’s knowledge or approval, totaling nearly $1,000,000 over several years.”
“I wasn’t surprised,” Lancaster said. “Like I said, I only started in February, so I haven’t been there a very long time. But, employees were even leaving then and they were a little suspicious.”
Lancaster said that for now, he’ll continue to work his second job to make ends meet. Nevertheless, he’s most concerned about the young children who were enrolled at ELNC's various centers. They received individual attention and hands-on learning, but now they have an uncertain future.
He estimated that 832 people may be directly impacted, including parents.
“That’s so many people out of the workforce, on top of these kids who were getting such a great head start before kindergarten,” Lancaster said. “All of the statistics back up that early childhood education is the best way to start your education. And, now they might lose that.”
ELNC Summons and Complaint Final by WXMI on Scribd
On Wednesday, Attorney Brian Lennon and ELNC Board Chair Amy DeLeeuw provided FOX 17 with the following statements after the centers were closed:
Brian Lennon, Attorney for ELNC:
“Since filing our lawsuit last week, our Board has identified hundreds of thousands of additional dollars that are missing from ELNC. Some funds were transferred to a business registered in the state of Georgia with ties 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.”
“The reckless and selfish actions of Nkechy, former director of finance Sharon Killebrew and others have left us with significant debt, forcing us to make the extremely painful decision to close our doors. It is incomprehensible how anyone who claims to be committed to helping children and families could commit such brazen fraud.”
“Their greed means 30 dedicated team members are now out of a job. Their greed caused ELNC to suddenly and permanently close our doors. Their greed has jeopardized programing for children and families in West Michigan who depend on the early care and education programs ELNC funds. We hope our education partners will be able to find money to continue to provide these critical programs.”
“We are committed to doing everything in our power to seek restitution of the funds Nkechy and Sharon have stolen – and to see them brought to justice so they can atone for their misdeeds.”
Amy DeLeeuw, ELNC Board Chair:
“We understand and share the anger of ELNC employees, who have been betrayed by Nkechy Ezeh and Sharon Killebrew. They masterminded an elaborate accounting scheme using a web of interrelated organizations to hide their financial misdeeds from the Board, employees and funders.”
“When the executive leadership of an organization conspires together to defraud an organization, the standard checks and balances and financial policies are a moot point. The founder and CEO of an organization should safeguard its finances, not divert them for her own use and that of her family. The person who could have stopped the fraud – the director of finance – was actually the person who enabled it.”
“The Board has worked for months to try and salvage operations, but the fraud runs too deep for the organization to recover. We had no other choice but to close the doors.”
