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.

Darshita Gillies has left the Board of Directors

Darshita Gillies is not mentioned any longer on the page devoted to the Board of Directors. I found out while visiting on February 2nd but I was unable to find out when (and why) she left. She had joined the Board on August 9, 2018. She was interviewed by Derek on April 20, 2020.

The tobaccotactics site notes (scroll down) that Zoe Feldman was not listed as a Board member when they visited on August 2020 and they also indicate Darshita Gillies is gone but without providing a date of departure. She probably left sometimes in 2020 (after July as she was still there according to the archives site). Zoe Feldman, nor Darshita Gillies mention their former membership with the FSFW board on their linkedin profile.

Questions about the Board of Directors

Here are a few questions about the Board of Directors of the FSFW:
1. In his book (page 210), Derek mentions the presence among the initial members of the board of Marian Jacobs "the much lauded South African public health pediatrician and former dean of the medical school at the University of Cape Town" but if she ever took part she very quickly resigned. What happened with Marian Jacobs?
2. Among the 5 initial members, none is a prominent figure with a previous significant experience in the field of tobacco control or tobacco harm reduction (with the exception of Dyborn Chibonga about tobacco farming). Since Derek's book is full of references to 'famous' people, experts, it's a bit surprising that none chose to join the board of the Foundation. So, how did Derek choose the initial board members?

Minutes of the board meetings accessible on Archive.org

The minutes of the FSFW board meetings until March 2019 are still accessible now on Archive.org (site of the Internet Archive) but not any longer on the Foundation's site. Why?

The evolution of the Board of Directors

November 3 2017 - First meeting of the Board 

The 3 initial members are Derek Yach, Lisa Gable and Michael Sagner. Then during this meeting are elected Zoe Feldman and Dyborn Chibonga.

Michael Sagner  leaves after 9 months in June 2018

Lisa Gable, first Chair, leaves after a year in October 2018

December 28, 2017  Board meeting including decisions about compensations following Qwatt associates recommandations...

January 23, 2018,  Board meeting: Marian Jacobs and Martin Skancke have agreed to join the Board and they are elected.

March 22, 2018, Marian Jacobs has resigned, "following pressure and personal attacks from critics of the Foundation". Pamela Parizek and Andrew MacLeod have agreed to join the Board and are elected.

June 21, 2018: Andrew MacLeod is elected as Vice-Chair and Michael Sagner has resigned. The Chair suggests looking for "a well qualified individual with medical credentials". (none will be found until the arrival on November 5, 2019 0f Vandana Abramson) Lisa Gable also announces she intends to resign effective at the November Board meeting. The minutes of the September's board meetings are no longer accessible. 

August 9, 2018: Darshita Gillies, Paul Gardner and Corinna Lathan  become members (2018 990PF form, pages 43 to 45)

October 2018: Lisa Gable resigns from the Board. This date was noted on her Linkedin profile but is not any longer. At the November meeting, Andrew MacLeod's honorarium as Chair is mentioned although not the official date of his 'election'. Maybe during a September meeting.

November 12, 2018: Noriko Tojo is elected as Board member.

February 12, 2019: Andrew MacLeod resigns.

After the March 28, 2019 meeting, the minutes are no longer available (and some earlier are not accessible any longer on archive). Jean-Francois Etter explains:

The Foundation published the minutes of its board meetings until May 2019, but does not publish them anymore (some of the previously published minutes are still available on the Archive.org website). The Foundation is not legally required to disclose those minutes, and given the climate of hostility against the FSFW, publishing those minutes is reportedly perceived by its president as counterproductive.  

The information about the composition of the Board then can only be known when the once a year 990PF form (here 2019 pages 40 to 43) is published as it contains a list of the Board members with the date when they joined the Board (along with their compensation and the average number of hours devoted to FSFW).

November 5, 2019:  Vandana Abramson and Angela Marshall Hofmann become members of the board.

Recap: on July 2020, 2 members are on the board since the beginning, 1 since March 2018, 3 since August 2018, 1 since November 2018, 2 since November 2019.

The present Board of Directors (as on the FSFW site on July 27, 2020)