Honest Feedback

The 2021 90-PF form is now available

Here is the link.

 Vandana Abramson (see page 49) declared an average of one hour per week working for the Foundation for a compensation of $50K.

Noriko Tojo is no longer a member of the Board of Directors

Noriko Tojo (see her bio below) is no longer listed among the members of the board of directors, now reduced to 6 members. We have not found any information about her departure on the Foundations site.

Who is going to run the Foundation?

As Derek Yach is gone, who is going to run the Foundation and what legitimacy/competence (if any) do they have. A closer look at the experience and background of each of the present members of the board of directors does not provide any reason to trust them to promote tobacco harm reduction. Indeed they were recruited by Derek (see our post about the evolution of the board  and our post about the compensation and average time devoted by each board member to the Foundation work, according to the most recent, 2020, 990 form, scroll to page 56 of the pdf ) but he was really the only reason they came in. See below for yourself.

What I know about the origins of the Foundation

Here is what I know of the origins of the Foundation, from my reading of Derek's book, Project Unthinkable,  (how many people read it? in my opinion, very few). Interesting to revisit now that Derek is out. Of course the present Board Directors had nothing to do with the creation and very little with its operation, despite a hefty compensation for very little work. But who cares...

The original contact with PMI came from a lawyer who had previously worked for BAT and he had met while he was with WHO, during tobacco control hearings in 1999 (page 73): she sent him an email on May 5, 2015 (page 170), a few months after the opinion he had published in the British magazine The Spectator, on February 21 2915, 'E-cigarettes save lives" (pages 164 to 170 but I could not find the original article).

One week after her email, they met in London (page 172) and at the end of the month two PMI executives traveled to Connecticut for a meeting with Derek and invited him to visit them in Switzerland (page 173 to 177). He agreed and met for two hours with PMI CEO, André Calantzopoulos (page 179 to 182).

I could not find details about how from this first meeting in June 2015 (?) was worked out the project of the Foundation. Derek mentions several public statements by Calantzopoulos about transitioning PMI out of combustibles (in August 2016, in November 2016 for the launch of IQOS, page 185, in the spring of 2017 in Dubai at a PMI event that Derek attended). At that time Derek writes he expected a job offer and he accepted when Calantzopoulos showed him the 6 pages draft about the Foundation (page 188). Looking at his linkedin profile shows he transitioned from Chief Health Officer with Vitality in March 2017 to consultant for Vitality for six months, until August 2017, when he accepted PMI's offer.

Derek is out. What is left?

Nobody will believe the press release (copied below as well). 

“After careful consideration, the Board has determined that now is the right time for a new leader to guide the essential efforts of the Foundation, its team and its work with partners around the world,” said Pamela Parizek, Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Directors.

As you know the board has zero credibility and the same goes for the staff. Derek leaving with deep satisfaction?

What's left of his unthinkable project? 

What a waste of resources :( :( and what is the true story behind Derek's departure?

FOUNDATION FOR A SMOKE-FREE WORLD ANNOUNCES LEADERSHIP TRANSITION

NEW YORK, Oct. 25, 2021 – Foundation for a Smoke-Free World today announced that Dr. Derek Yach will no longer serve as President and Board Director. Heidi Goldstein, General Counsel, and David Janazzo, CFO and EVP of Operations and Finance, will serve as Interim Co-Presidents, effective immediately, while the Board conducts a search for a new President to lead the foundation and its vital mission forward.

“After careful consideration, the Board has determined that now is the right time for a new leader to guide the essential efforts of the Foundation, its team and its work with partners around the world,” said Pamela Parizek, Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. “As we continue to take urgent action to accelerate progress toward ending smoking in this generation, we look forward to this opportunity to take the Foundation to the next level of achievement. The Foundation remains squarely focused on its mission to improve global health by reducing death and disease caused by smoking, and Heidi and David, together with the rest of our talented team, will continue advancing our global research grantmaking, range of innovative programs and powerful public health collaborations without interruption.”

Ms. Parizek continued, “On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Derek for helping to establish and build the Foundation. We deeply appreciate the contributions he has made to this team’s work and to communities around the world through decades of ground-breaking efforts in tobacco control and public health. We wish him all the best.”

Dr. Yach commented, “The Foundation’s ongoing work to end the world’s largest single preventable cause of death could not be more needed today. I leave the Foundation with deep satisfaction that we now have an emerging cadre of hundreds of researchers, advocates and industry scientists dedicating themselves to this goal. My future efforts aim to complement them.”

ABOUT FOUNDATION FOR A SMOKE-FREE WORLD

The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World is an independent, U.S. nonprofit 501(c)(3) private foundation with the purpose of improving global health by ending smoking in this generation. The Foundation supports its mission through three core pillars: Health, Science, and Technology; Agriculture and Livelihoods; and Industry Transformation. Funded by annual gifts from PMI Global Services Inc. (“PMI”), the Foundation is independent from PMI and operates in a manner that ensures its independence from any commercial entity. For more information about the Foundation, please visit www.smokefreeworld.org.

Contact:

Nicole Bradley

Foundation for a Smoke-Free World

[email protected]

A quick look at the compensations offered by FSFW in 2020 (according to the 990PF)

The 990 PF form for 2020 (signed May 11, page 13) was made available on the FSFW's website (scroll down): pdf format. The Foundation's annual budget was reduced by PMI from $80 million to $45 million in 2020 but no explanation of this fact presented in an 'amended pledge agreement' is offered. PMI will further reduce its annual contribution to $40 million in 2021 and $35 million for the years after (until the end of 2029, supposedly), as stated in article 1.2 , page 2. It is still a lot of money. Is it wisely managed?

Comparing 2019 and 2020 (which means having both pdf documents open) we can see the total compensation of officers and directors diminished by $303,206 (at $2,097,811) while the "other employees salaries and wages' raised  by $672,112 to $7,422,970. Because of the severance pay for the employees that were laid off ? 

Don't think the members of the board were compensated less. In fact most were compensated at the same level as in 2019 for 'working' much less. That means examining Attachment 11 (starting on page 56 in the pdf file). 

Derek Yach got $922,651. ($35,075 less than in 2019), Zoe Feldman (who left July 27) got $44,827 for 4 hours per week (hpw) but she used to devote 19 hpw in 2019, for $56,181. It seems the main trend for most directors is they got paid the same as in 2019 for devoting much less time in 2020 (scroll pdf to page 56). Let us recall that 2 board members left in 2020 and have not been replaced yet (Zoe in July and Darshita in November).

Dyborn Chibonga: $50,000 for 1 hpw (used to be 8 hpw) (-7) that's $961 per hour

Darshita Gillies (left November 2), $41,984 for 4 hpw (used to be 6) (-2)

Paul Gardner :  $50,000 for 5 hpw (used to be 7) (-2)

Corinna Lathan: $50,000 for 7 hpw (used to be 11) (-4)

Noriko Tojo: $ 50,000 for 2 hpw (used to be 6) (-4) that's $480 per hour

Vandana Abramson: $45,245 for 1 hpw (used to be 2) (-1). that's $870 per hour

Angela Marshall Hofmann: $45,245 for 1 hpw (stable). that's $870 per hour

Pamela Parizek (Chair): $125,000 for 14 hpw  but in 2019 she got $93,681 for the same 14 hpw.

Is this level of compensation 'right'? You decide (but of course you don't have any say in this matter). As a friend commented: 'Another world'. Foundation for a Smoke-Free World. 

I noticed that David Janazzo (now CFO Treasurer) got a $17,966 raise at $314,567 while Nittin Mittal, the short lived "CSO/COO' (for how long and until when exactly? September 2020?) got $405,188. What was the recruiting fee for his hiring?

Golden parachute for Tom Harding? as former COO (he left on July 31, 2019) he is awarded in 2020, $307,692 (attachment 12, page 59 pdf) and credited of 40 hpw (?) while his linkedin account tells he is since August 2019, Assistant Coach, part time, cross country, track and field, at Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut. Searching a bit more, it looks like Tom Harding is now the COO of the Staples High School but I could not double check this info.

Ehsan Latif (VP grants management) gets $253,130, a raise of $35,589. Steadily climbing the salary ladder. In 2018, his salary was not listed in the 990PF, under $170,000 that was awarded to the 5th highest paid employee that year (see page 43 of the 990PF for 2018)

What are the 30 mysterious and inconvenient questions the FSFW declines to answer and Le Monde does not want to share?

A short time after publishing the previous post about the 30 mysterious questions sent by Le Monde's journalist that Derek Yach declined to answer, I emailed said journalist to ask her if she would share them with me. She declined. I wonder why. So I am going to email Derek with the same request: maybe he'll be more transparent than Le Monde? seize an opportunity for transparency? 

When the French public radio station France Culture targets the Foundation

Just found about this radio segment aired in April, on France Culture. Interview with Stéphane Horel. Everything in French (of course). Title: "The secret war of Philip Morris against the World Health Organization and the tobacco control experts". Stéphane Horel states she asked repeatedly for an interview with Derek and finally sent 30 questions but did not receive any detailed answer. I'd be very curious to read (and publish) the 30 unanswered questions.

What future in 2021 for the The Global Health Perspectives Podcasts by Derek Yach? and for the Foundation itself?

As for now (May 7, 2021) Derek has only hosted one interview in 2021, on February 9 for the podcast. Is there a future for this podcast that has lost its place on the Foundation's front page and is now at the bottom of the "press room" section (scroll down, keep scrolling down unto "media tools")? What is its audience? Does it deserve a future? The Foundation's blog that was never very prolific has produced 3 articles (all in January 2021). Among the published articles in 2021 one finds 3 by Derek, all in March. Besides Derek, what are the other 24 staff members and 7 board members doing to help and justify their often significant compensation? As for grants, since there is zero communication from the Foundation about them, except once a year in the very limited format of the IRS tax return 990 form (scroll down), one can only wait until later in 2021 to find out what happened in 2020. Beyond the podcast, what future for the Foundation?

The high cost of lost trust

While re-reading Derek's answer to Le Monde's article, I feel a growing awareness that after 3 years the question Jean-François Etter was asking after two years, "The FSFW, can it be trusted?', would unfortunately receive a NO answer. There is a high cost for lost trust (as explained in this 2002 article of The Harvard Business Review). Quote:

"Of all the factors that can undermine behavioral integrity, among the most dangerous is managers’ inability to see an integrity problem in themselves. The issue often arises because of our natural desire to see ourselves as consistent. In many companies, a manager’s path to success seems to lie in verbal endorsements of espoused values, while his actual behavior is expected to align with certain implicit norms and standards that may be more widely accepted. For example, managers often talk about empowerment without actually yielding any power. When this happens, psychological defense mechanisms activate to divert the manager’s attention from the contradiction so he can feel better about himself. The self-deception tends to perpetuate the problem."

The self-deception does perpetuate the problem. Derek mentioned Reagan's motto, Trust but verify (a Russian proverb) at the bottom of the page 221 of his book Project Unthinkable: by making verification difficult, he has very much eroded the trust part of the equation.