Friday, June 22, 2018
Rockefeller President Cleared After Review Triggered by Employee Complaint
The Rockefeller Foundation earlier this year hired outside counsel to review internal complaints alleging that President Rajiv Shah mismanaged staff and steered contracts and grants to individuals with close professional and personal ties to him. Completed in April, the review concluded no wrongdoing occurred, according to Richard Parsons, chairman of the foundation’s board.
The review was conducted by New York law firm Patterson Belknap. In an interview with the Chronicle on Thursday, Parsons described it as a "review." It was set in motion by an anonymous employee complaint submitted in February. Shah has seen a copy of the review's findings, Parsons said.
"There was no disciplinary action taken, and there was no basis for taking any disciplinary action," Parsons said. "Virtually all the charges, if you will want to call them that, proved to be without factual basis or merit."
With $4 billion in assets and more than $200 million in annual grant making, the 105-year-old Rockefeller Foundation is one of the biggest and most prominent in philanthropy. Shah, who served as director of USAID under President Obama, has been at the helm of the foundation since March 2017, when he succeeded Judith Rodin...