reSee.it Video Transcript AI Summary
Missus Scott started working as the director of operations for Be More Empowered in September 2021. She started dating the mayor in 2022. Her employer began to receive money through the Baltimore City government in 2023, totaling 34,950 taxpayer dollars by 2024. The Downtown Partnership of Baltimore awarded Be More Empowered $80,000 through a taxpayer funded program in July 2023, a day before the Scotts went public with their relationship through a pregnancy announcement.
The taxpayer backed Baltimore Children and Youth Fund sent Be More Empowered $62,500 from July 2023 to June 2024. Meanwhile, Be Empowered has not filed a tax form since 2023, meaning it's almost a year behind its required filings with the IRS. None of its previous tax forms mentioned Missus Scott's position or salary. Be More Empowered is listed on the Maryland government's charity database as delinquent.
Linda Parsons, a professor at the University of Alabama specializing in nonprofit accounting, said Be More Empowered needs to explain how it's managing taxpayer money. Missus Scott lists on her LinkedIn that she stopped working at Be More Empowered in September, which was the same month the nonprofit announced an organizational pause and was sued for not paying rent. Attempts to reach Missus Scott for comment were unsuccessful. Be More Empowered received $25,000 from the Baltimore City government in 2023 stemming from the Federal American Rescue Plan Act.
In 2024, Be More Empowered received $9,950 listed for the Youth Works program, which runs under the mayor's office of employment development. The $80,000 Be More Empowered received from the Downtown Partnership came through the Boost program, which is funded through a combination of private and public money. Mayor Scott sent $1,600,000 in ARPA money to downtown partnerships in 2022 to help back the Boost program Be More Empowered benefited from one year later. A spokesman for downtown partnership told Spotlight on Maryland that Be More Empowered spent the $80,000 in accordance with its contract, which he said he could not provide. A point that Parsons questioned.
When you have government funds, the contract is not available is not an option. Once you agree to take government funds, whether from your city or state or or federal government, it's your obligation to be transparent as possible.
The boost grant to Be More Empowered was intended for the organization to spend on a new office space downtown on North Howard Street. However, a previous Spotlight on Maryland investigation found they never moved into that location, instead opening an office on North Charles Street where they were sued in September for not paying rent and since moved out. Downtown Partnership's president, Shalonda Stokes, has a salary of $317,000. Stokes' Instagram shows several photos and videos of her with Missus Scott, including attending a Beyonce concert together summer in a group that also included the wife of Maryland governor Wes Moore. A spokesman for BCYF emphasized that one of its grantees chose Be More Empowered as its fiscal sponsor. The spokesman did not respond to questions about how that money was spent and whether they'll get it back.