Well, just when you may have thought things had settled down at Indiana Black Expo — drama resumes.
Late last week, a high-ranking employee of Expo was terminated by the organization’s President Tanya Bell. As outsiders, we never know the inner workings or personnel issues that take place behind closed doors, but based off this particular individual’s work ethic — particularly prior to and during this year’s Summer Celebration — I question whether the termination was truly warranted.
The person who was terminated last week previously had a reputation for being a bit abrasive and cold. Though I’ve not seen it, interestingly enough, these are some of the very adjectives I’ve heard people use to describe Bell.
Since Bell has become president of IBE, most of the key, top-ranking employees who were integral parts of the organization have resigned or been terminated. In addition, there have been other less-known, but still valuable staffers at Expo who resigned or were terminated. While Bell and other Expo insiders may claim these employees “checked out” once former head Joyce Rogers left to assume a position at Ivy Tech, I now find myself wondering if there were hopes or plans of them leaving so that positions would be available for Bell’s choice of hires. Keep in mind, these longtime employees of Expo had a deep love for the late Rev. Charles Williams as well as the organization as a whole — that type of deep-rooted affinity doesn’t generally warrant lackluster efforts from committed people. And from an ethical standpoint, I doubt very seriously that any of these people who were terminated or resigned would have done anything to compromise their professional careers or the organization.
When so many controversial moves are made within a short period of time by a non-profit entity, the attention has to be directed to Bell because she’s the president of the organization, but one should also focus on the board, by which the organization is supposed to be governed. It’s disappointing that after all these months of doubt and concern regarding Expo and its personnel that the board has not made some sort of public statement to address the issues. It seems the board is taking a very lackadaisical approach to situations that could potentially harm the organization for years to come.
I spoke with a source close to Expo who said the current board “gives a certain sense of authority to the president and hopefully things get well documented” in regards to terminations. Expo’s board does have a personnel committee that is designed to address certain issues regarding employees, however I’m not sure if this committee has been utilized to its full capacity. The personnel committee and the general board are also available to address any complaints or issues that Expo’s staffers may have, but based on the way they’ve not addressed things thus far, I’m not sure how confident I’d be going to them with a problem if I were an Expo employee.
During Summer Celebration, I heard a number of things about Expo and its board from the community. Sadly, there are some people who feel that the board is nothing more than a group of individuals who Bell has in the palm of her hands.
In response to the comments I heard, I asked an Expo board member if they feel the board has a voice in regards to Bell and the member resoundingly said “absolutely.”
While I’m sure people feel the board is ineffective because of its obvious lack of publicly addressing certain things, in all fairness I will say that there are people on the board who are very accomplished and competent individuals who have excelled in their respective professional roles.
Nonetheless, there are insurmountable issues that need to be addressed by Expo. The public wants to hear from the board of this not-for-profit on what is being done to ensure that procedures are followed behind closed doors at 3145 N. Meridian.
Indiana Black Expo is an organization that makes upwards of $7 million annually, an obvious evolution that has steadily increased in its 38-year history. The question is, however, if this grassroots board has grown with the organization?
