The New Georgia Project, a charity established by Stacey Abrams in 2013 to expand the state’s non-white electorate, has been in turmoil recently due to allegations of financial misconduct. According to the Washington
Free Beacon, former senior staff have accused the leadership of engaging in widespread financial misconduct. Furthermore, the Georgia state ethics commission has alleged that the group unlawfully worked to elect Abrams during her unsuccessful 2018 gubernatorial campaign against current Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican.
The latest scandal involves a missing $533,000, which the New Georgia Project was unable to account for in its financial disclosure. According to the report, the charity submitted its 2021 Form 990 to the IRS two months after the due date and three months after Nse Ufot, the CEO hand-picked by Abrams, was fired by the charity’s board chairman.
The disclosure revealed a $533,846 consulting payment and a $67,500 grant to the Black Male Initiative, a charity partially run by Ufot’s brother, Edima, who was a former employee of the New Georgia Project.
However, the Black Male Initiative denied receiving any consulting payment and provided the outlet with its IRS financial disclosures, showing no income from consulting and only $255,000 in contributions from all sources in 2021.
The missing money has raised ethical concerns and added to the challenges facing the troubled charity. Experts have claimed that the discrepancy is grounds for federal and state investigators to probe the situation.
Nonprofit attorney Alan Dye said, “This is something that the Internal Revenue Service should be interested in, particularly with the added element of the former officer possibly pocketing the money.” He added that it’s a crime to file a false statement knowingly with the federal government.
The New Georgia Project and its affiliated New Georgia Project Action Fund have been among the largest left-leaning voter registration efforts in the nation, raising a total of $54.7 million since 2020.
Nse Ufot was a critical figure in the Democratic Party’s efforts, a Nigerian community organizer who was residing in Canada when Abrams convinced her to relocate to Georgia in 2014 to lead the New Georgia Project.
However, Ufot’s leadership tenure with the organization came to an unexpected end in October 2022 under unclear circumstances.
The charity’s tax forms have further discrepancies, with information that accountants find questionable. For example, the organization’s 2020 financial disclosure reveals that it did not pay any payroll taxes that year, a claim that accountants believe is impossible.
Scott Walter, president of the Capital Research Center, a charity watchdog group, said that such a bizarre discrepancy is highly unusual and certainly cause to question the merits of the accountant.
The New Georgia Project has a history of controversy, and the recent scandal is only adding to its challenges. The charity’s leadership must take immediate steps to restore trust and transparency, or it risks damaging the credibility of the larger voter registration movement in Georgia and beyond.
