There is already big trouble at the high-profile education partnership that Gov. Ned Lamont and legislators have entered into in the past year with hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio, which includes $100 million in public funds and is meant to help disadvantaged student through a much-ballyhooed “public-private” effort.
Mary Anne Schmitt-Carey, who was hired only March 23 as president and CEO of the Partnership for Connecticut — amid high praise from the organization’s board of directors — has already complained internally that she’s been unjustly threatened with firing after being hit May 4 with “false and defamatory allegations.”
Since May 7, the $247,500-a-year CEO has been placed on a paid leave that isolates her from all partnership operations, she said in an email Tuesday to partnership board members and a number of officials in the state legislature.
The turmoil that’s been raging for nine days behind the scenes is only surfacing now, after Government Watch obtained emails documenting the problem.
The situation highlights criticism that the partnership lacks transparency — after it was created by 2019 legislation making its operations exempt from the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act.
Erik Clemons, chairman of the partnership’s governing board, issued a statement Wednesday afternoon after The Courant sought a response. He said: “A special meeting of the Partnership for Connecticut’s Board is in the process of being scheduled as soon as possible. Regretfully, the Board must consider and resolve a confidential personnel issue and will treat the matter in a manner that is consistent with the appropriate process and in the best interest of the Partnership’s mission.”
“The Board seeks to come to a resolution quickly but can offer no further comment on internal personnel matters,” he added.
‘Ambushed’
In her Tuesday email to the partnership’s board and other officials, Schmitt-Carey said her troubles began when “[a]fter serving as President and CEO of the Partnership for Connecticut for 30 days, on May 4th at 8:30 am, I was asked to be on a call with Erik Clemons, Barbara Dalio, and Andrew Ferguson.” (Barbara Dalio, co-founder of Dalio Philanthropies, sits on the governing board; and Ferguson, chief education officer for Dalio Philanthropies, is senior adviser to the partnership.)
Schmitt-Carey’s email continued: “During this call, I was was ambushed with a set of false and defamatory accusations (read by Andrew Ferguson) and then told to voluntarily resign by 12:00 noon that day or the allegations would become ‘much more public.’
“I categorically denied all of the allegations because they were false and then was told they did not want to hear me speak. They also said that they had been talking about my ‘ineffective tenure’ for ‘some time’, which bewildered me given my short tenure and the fact that I had regular, required ‘check in’ calls with either Barbara or Andrew literally every day of the week (and periodic calls with Erik as well), providing many opportunities for redirection if that’s what they felt was truly needed. None of our prior conversations prepared me for what happened on May 4th.”
She wrote that “last Thursday [May 7] I requested that the Board Secretary and Chair call a special meeting of the board given the requirements in both the Partnership’s by-laws as well as our grant agreement with the State of Connecticut. I’m concerned that a week has passed, the meeting has not been called, and I believe that not all members of the board have been apprised of what has transpired.
“Additionally, I’ve been given no formal, written notification of the reasons for my ‘paid administrative leave'” — which she said was ordered by Clemons — “nor specifics regarding what a fair and unbiased process might look like going forward.”
“I’ll be very pleased to share with the board what I specifically did during my first month,” she wrote. “I’ve acted in the best interest of the Partnership and with a desire to understand the statewide landscape and key assets that could be more effectively aligned (and/or resourced) to successfully meet the needs of disconnected and disengaged youth (aged 14-24).”
Not ‘treated fairly’
“I do not believe that I have been treated fairly or appropriately during these past eight days. Additionally, I believe my treatment is in violation of the by-laws of the Partnership,” she wrote. “I seek to understand what the allegations are and to be given the opportunity to protect my reputation and name, and in the best interest of the Partnership address any concerns that any board member may have regarding my current performance as President and CEO, as well as my prior performance in any previous employment. “
“I’m deeply disappointed that this has happened, since it distracts from our ability to carry out the mission of the Partnership, which has been my life’s work,” she wrote. “My prior experience prepared me well to support a genuine effort to drive more equitable access to both education and workforce development opportunities, leading to more equitable access to meaningful jobs and productive citizenship for Connecticut’s disconnected and disengaged youth and young adults. I look forward to being given the opportunity to address any and all questions you may have and to returning my focus to the achievement of the goals and mission of the Partnership.”
This is all a far cry from the glowing statement that the partnership issued about her hiring in March, which said in part: “Mary Anne Schmitt Carey is a proven leader with over two decades of experience developing and scaling community-wide systems that drive college and career readiness, particularly for low-income and minority youth. Through the Partnership for Connecticut, Mary Anne will continue efforts to build an organization and statewide movement that enables currently disengaged and disconnected youth to believe in themselves and aspire to and achieve their dreams, including gainful employment and productive citizenship.”
Schmitt-Carey included in her email a note that Clemons emailed to her on May 7, placing her on paid leave. In it, he said, “Dear Mary Anne: Further to our telephone conversation on May 4, 2020, effective immediately, Thursday, May 7, 2020, you are being placed on administrative leave. During your leave, the Partnership will continue to pay you your regular salary and you will continue to receive the benefits for which you are enrolled.
“During your leave, you will not have access to the Partnership computer network, you will not perform any work for or on behalf of the Partnership, and you are not to have contact with any Partnership member or consultant, or Board member.”
Schmitt-Carey also included a note she wrote to partnership board member Yvette Meléndez, referring to that email from Clemons. “I received this note below from Erik Clemons.” Schmitt-Carey wrote. “Without any disrespect to Erik, through discussions between my private counsel and the Partnership’s counsel, I was advised that it appears that this decision was made without authorization of the Board as required by the bylaws of the Partnership for Connecticut. As expressively stipulated in the bylaws, it is my duty to notify you of any activities of the Partnership, especially those that might jeopardize the ability of the corporation to achieve its mission.”
She continued: “For this reason, I am forwarding this note to you and requesting a special meeting of the board to discuss specific activities that have been underway, which I fear will threaten the mission and standing of the Partnership for Connecticut. I also wish to address the wildly false and defamatory allegations that have been leveled at me concerning my former employment and my present employment.
“I regret that we are at this point and hope your engagement will enable the Partnership to get back on track and to achieve its mission.”
One of the partnership’s first acts was to fund the purchase of 60,000 laptops that are to be distributed to low-income students who lack the equipment needed for online learning that has replaced classroom instruction due to the coronavirus pandemic. The expenditure of nearly $24 million was approved in April and the first round of laptops are being given out later this month.
Jon Lender is a reporter on The Courant’s investigative desk, with a focus on government and politics. Contact him at [email protected], 860-241-6524, or c/o The Hartford Courant, 285 Broad St., Hartford, CT 06115 and find him on Twitter@jonlender.
